AD&D - WGR2 - Treasures of Greyhawk (2e) (lvl 4-18)

will slither through the door in the northern small gems (10gp each),4,000 sp, weapons
wall (from area 4). His scales form bright pat- galore, and some armor. Among the treasures
terns of deep blue and silver. He will be carry- are several magical items, including a spear
ing a vial and a scimitar in his hands, as well + 3(which the party will discover is a lost relic
as a key around his neck. The vial is another of the native village; if returned, it will ensure
potion of extra-healing,and the scimitar is a them the status of heroes), a pearl of wisdom,
scimitar +2.He will be watching the floor as a dagger +2,a wand of wonder (11charges,
he mumbles to himself, until he notices the command word “Verigor”),a long sword +2,
party occupying his chambers. He will flee + 3 versus reptiles,four potions ofhealing, and
into area 10,where he will pick up the wand of a staffof the serpent (the command word, “Al-
wonder, then try to fight past the party to get thiss”, is worked along its length in scales).
to the jungle above.
Leaving
Yuan-ti halfbreed:Int Genius; AL CE; AC
0; MV slither 9; C8; hp 38; THACO 13;#AT 2; The settlers move very slowly due to their
Dmg 1-8;S A Spells; MR 20%;SZ M; ML 14; wounds and sickness. They won’t all fit in the
XP 4,000.Clerical spells: 3/3/3/2. Dragonspray The natives, if asked, will accept
the settlers, saying that, “The forest demons
The door in the east wall is of steel, and will come for others. The added swords will be
double-bolted. It leads to room 8. welcome here.” The king will assure the party
that, combined, the two groups will be able to
8. Prison withstand any assault by the yuan-ti.
This room holds all of the surviving cap-
The king will ask that a native group be sent
tives; seventy prisoners, many sick or wound- to speak with the prince, to thank him for his
ed. They are overjoyed to see the party. If not concern and to ask for aid in dealing with this
kept in check, they will begin to cheer without problem. This group will be led by Malabur.
reservation. If are not hushed by the party
immediately, they will draw the attention of If the party has the spear + 3from the yuan-
the guards in room 9. ti treasure room, the king will ask that it be
returned. If the‘partyrefuses, he will insist.
9. Guard Room Ultimately, refusal to return the spear will
There are six halfbreed guards here, all with mean the party will be allowed to leave, but
will forfeit their special status.
snake heads and snake tails. If the party is in
area 8 and somehow convinces the yuan-ti to Aftermath
open the captives’ door without raising their
suspicions, the characters will have surprise If the characters go to the arranged meeting
and a free round of attacks. If the party enters place (The Captains’)and leave a note with the
by the ramp it will have to roll for initiative. barkeeper, he will give them a free room up-
stairs and tell them to wait. The prince will
Yuan-ti halfbreed (6):Int Genius; AL CE; speak with Malabur first. After three days,
AC 0; MV slither 9; HD 7; hp 33, 31, 28, 27, Malabur will come to their room with an es-
25,25; #AT 2; THACO 13;Dmg 1-8;MR 20%; cort, telling them to come meet the lord.
SZ L; ML 14; XP 650. Items: long swords.
The characters will be taken back to the
There is nothing of value in this room other cellars and asked for the information they
than the swords of the guards: each sword has learned. After they do so, there will be a formal
set in its hilt numerous small rubies in the ceremony. Each character will be handed a
shape of a striking serpent. Between the crafts- piece of parchment bearing the seal of Jeon 11,
manship and the gems, the characters can the Prince of Monmurg, granting the right to
estimate worth of the swords at 2,400 gp. take passage on any of his seafaring vessels.
The prince may offer the party another job:
10.Treasure Vault either that of rooting out the yuan-ti, or the
The key for this room is around the neck of next adventure in this section.

the priest. There are 2-8excellently crafted
pieces of jewelry here (totalvalue 3,500 gp), 75

50

On the town “Soon he had children and everything was
perfect, or so he thought. You see, his eldest
Terrain: City
%tal Party Levels: 54 son was the first of the line not to be . . .intel-
Average Party Level: 9th lectually blessed . . . shall we say? Knowing
Adventure XP:
that his son would be unable to effectively rule
Full: 31,200 his kingdom, Derik had to find a way to insure
Partial: 23,400 the continued prosperity of his people. He
Retreat: 7,800 gathered the best advisors, the most able gen-
erals, his most loyal friends, all so that what
This adventure, while designed for player had taken so long to build would not crumble
characters of eighth to tenth level, can be easi- into ruins when he died.
ly altered for characters of any level. If the
previous adventure was not played, read its “He realized, however, that these people
introduction to see how the characters can be would not be there to aid his descendants. He
brought to Jetsom Isle. If you run this after the decided to craft a weapon, a sword, to advise
previous adventure, simply begin where the his line. For a year, he entrusted his son to
characters left off. rule his kingdom, under the guidance of his
closest friend and general, Karl Mathersson. In
Set U p
this time, he hunted for all the materials he
Jeon I1 invites the characters to dine with would need to complete his work. He called in
him in the cellar of The Warship, for they have
much to discuss. All PCs select what they de- favors from friends from all over the world.
sire for dinner and drink. As they wait for the “It is said that he even sought the aid of a
food, Jeon (whom Frederick, apparently his
chamberlain, will demand the party refer to as gold dragon. The dragon supposedly gave him
His Royal Highness) will begin to tell of the rarest mithril for the sword. Derik personally
mission he has for them. oversaw the sword’s creation by a blacksmith
pledged to Kelanen. After the forging, Derik
“Many years ago, one of my ancestors
founded a kingdom. As time went by, he aged returned to the dragon and let it whisper se-
and so his son inherited the land. In the, was it cret knowledge to the sword. This, then, was
the origin of the Sword of the Dragon.
the fourth generation, Frederick? . . .”
“As I say, never is it recorded in the histories
“Yes, Your Royal Highness.”
that a dragon spoke to the sword, these are
“Thank you. In the fourth generation, one of only family rumors of what might have been.
my ancestors, Derik Drakkonheart, chose the
path of magic. He rose to tremendous heights “One year later Derik returned, his once-
of power. In the years before his father’s death, strong body wasted and staggering under the
he began to train as a warrior so that our peo- weight of the single blade he bore. For two
ple would be properly ruled. He paid homage more years he ruled his land, teaching the
to Kelanen, the Prince of Swords, whom we
had chosen to be our protector. sword all it needed to know to help his descen-
dants rule the land. With his death, so passed
“He was soon numbered among the most the greatest of our line.
devout, and in fact was asked to lead the
church. Many believed that Derik became the “Over the next two generations, his descen-
Chosen of Kelanen, an avatar if you will. He
embodied the greatest traits a warrior might dants seemed to grow more reckless in their
possess: strength, speed, wisdom, faith, skill, dealings. Some seized buffer lands that be-
and intelligence.
came the source of endless skirmishes. Others

started wars of such magnitude that whole
armies were doomed to inevitable destruction.
In the end, at the Battle of Lost Hope, the then-

king. . . Marcus? . . .was killed and the Sword

of the Dragon was lost.
“Several of his brothers escaped the battle,

one of whom came to this land to claim a
name for himself. All this time, that sword, the
foundation of my family, has been lost. I have

discovered that it can be found in the Crystal-
mist Mountains.

“Forgive me, I outrun myself. Three days “If you could learn of and perhaps regain the
ago, one of my followers, returning in haste sword, the designs of those set against me
from those very mountains, reported to me
seeing a sword as pure as moonlight on a could be foiled. This is the key . . .
pond, hilt encrusted with emeralds on both
“Forgive me, there is the matter of payment.
sides, and a pommel set with six rubies that You shall be given any equipment and spend-
glowed like the heart of a forge’s fire. This is ing money that you need, and that Frederick
my family sword. deems reasonable. Upon successful comple-
tion of your mission, you shall each choose a
“He was close enough to see it but could not magical item from my treasures. I assure you,
recover it for me. You see, it is in the hands of there is something that each of you will desire.
a mercenary band traveling to this city. My
man said that he was able to get close enough “Gentlemen, I bid you good hunting.”
to them to hear their conversation.
Into The City
“A sect of Nerull’s followers are coming
From here, the characters have two options:
here, to slay the followers of Kelanen. My peo- to investigate the Weary Traveler, or go to the
marketplace and watch Serval. If things fail to
ple. The mercenaries are to hand the sword move forward, in two days they will encounter
over to the sect to use against me and mine. an informant who will help them. On the
street they will hear about a series of mysteri-
“Why the sect of Nerull has so suddenly set ous killings, with no motives known.
themselves against those who follow Kelanen
is unknown to me. Perhaps they see me as the The Weary Traveler
man to restore the faith to the people and
purge the land of the evils that plague us. In The Weary Traveler is a four-story inn lo-
killing those around me they will force me to cated near the docks. It is a place of constant
merriment. A wide variety of people can be
show myself. In essence, gentlemen, I will found here from all over Oerth, as it is the best
have to bare my neck to their blades. inn near the docks.

“The followers of Nerull have already ar- William of the Axe: A huge man domi-
rived, some several weeks past. I can tell you nates the common room. His heavily muscled
of those we believe to be their allies. First and frame is accumulating a layer of flab. While he
foremost is William of the Axe. He is a retired is rapidly approaching his later thirties, there
adventurer who has established a very popu- is something childlike about him. He dresses
lar inn in Monmurg called The Weary Traveler. in bright clothes that should probably never
be put together, but he seems not to notice.
I believe many of those who frequent his inn Everyone else seems to ignore this quirk, too.
are followers of Nerull.
William, as the owner of this tavern, rarely
“The second most powerful is a priest has an entertainer, in the evening. Most often,
named Serval. He speaks in the market place, he can be convinced to tell one of the many
stories from his past. In fact, it seems that he
constantly attended by at least four disciples. wants to tell them and that the crowd knows
It is said that he is an “errand boy” for Wil- this, so they will ask him to tell stories, yet he
liam, for he will often bring initiates to the says that he must apologetically refuse, for the
day has tired him. This goes on for some time
Weary Traveler to meet those who have lately before he “grudgingly” concedes and zealous-
joined that crowd. I find it hard to believe he is ly launches into his tales.
a n errand boy, for his voice can seize the very
hearts of men, and twist them to his desires. If the party is foolish and asks him of in-
volvement with the followers of Nerull, he will
“Of his four disciples little is known. They laugh and pass them off as drunk. If the party
have been seen only with Serval or at the inn. insists, he will angrily deny any charges. Be-
They have yet to speak in the market square ing well-liked and respected, William can get

where Serval recruits new followers. Their
martial skills are formidable. On the two occa-
sions Serval has been attacked, they have
pulled weapons from within the folds of their
robes and quickly eliminated the attackers.

“I am afraid, my friends, that this is the only
information I have for you. News of the threat
has but recently reached my ears.

52 P

most any patron of the bar to help throw out ters do nothing to break her trust, she will talk
the party merely by nodding his head. At this of her problem.
point, it is certain that William will send a
group six thugs to kill the party wherever they Her brothers have been talked into joining
might go that night. Serval’sgroup; Serval was so convincing that
her brothers could not resist. What is more,
Thugs (6):Int Ave; AL NE; AC 7; MV 9; F2; they have been offered leadership of the group.
hp 12; #AT 1;THACO 19;Dmg 1-8;SZ M; ML This, more than anything, has clouded their
12;XP 35. Items: long sword, leather armor, minds. She will ask, even beg, the party to
small metal shield. help her convince her brothers to forego the
teachings of Serval. While they have done
William of the Axe: Int High; AL CE; AC 6; nothing as of yet, she fears that Serval and his
MV 12; F12; hp 87; #AT 3/2; THACO 9; Dmg four followers are working some evil.

1-4or 1-8+ 4; SZ M; ML 16; S 18/87, I 13,W Group Three: These four men, all wrapped in
dark clothes and voluminous robes, are found
10,C 17, D 13,Ch 17. Items: ringofprotection here only at twilight and for several hours
+3,battleaxe +4. thereafter. They are the four disciples of Ser-
val. All are devout worshipers of Nerull. With-
Patrons of the Weary Traveler in the folds of their robes, each carries a small
sickle (Dmg 1-3).These are used to defend
Group One: This group of five warriors is Serval, and at night when they hunt.
looking for jobs as mercenaries. If the charac-
ters ask the other patrons, they will find that During the day they can be found in the
this group has been here for nearly two marketplace with Serval and a legion of other
months. They have not looked for a job in sev- street priests.
eral weeks, though several caravans needing
guards recently left. Each night, about two hours past midnight,
they leave their rooms, to hunt and kill hu-
The mercenaries have a job: they were hired manoid prey as an .offeringto Nerull. They are
by William to “convince” any undesired the source of the growing number of dead
watchers that another place might be better found each day. If a PC is on the street during
suited for them. If the characters try to speak this time, he may very well be attacked by this
with this group, they will meet with hard- group. They will not retreat, no matter the
nosed defiance. The mercenaries will look for losses they suffer.
any excuse to brawl with the party.
Disciples (4):Int Ave; AL CE; AC 5 (leather
Warriors (5):Int Ave; AL CE; AC 4; MV 9;
F6; hp 37, 32, 30, 29, 27; #AT 1;Dmg 1-8;SZ armor + Dexterity);MV 12; F/C 5/4; hp 33,31,
M; ML 14; Items: chain mail, large metal
shield, long sword. 30,28,25; #AT 1;THACO 16;Dmg 1-3;SZ M;
ML 20; XP 650. Spells: 3/2. Items: leather ar-
Group Two:This motley group of people is mor. sickle.
comprised of seven men and two women.
They alternate between hushed whispers and The Drunk: Jaryd talphos can be found here
bellowing tales of adventure. Three of the men every night, as well as most of the day. He
are obviously brothers, one of the women their draws attention to himself with crazy antics.
sister. The two oldest brothers seem to be the People at the inn will often buy him a drink if
leaders of the group, since they dominate the he amuses them.
conversations. The youngest brother says lit-
tle, only agreeing with his brothers whenever He will drift around the bar, stumbling over
they say something. The sister, youngest of anything that gets in his way. If a character is
the four, seems upset at being excluded from mean to him, the other patrons of the bar will
everything, and especially mad when being become upset. A fight may ensue, for everyone
teased. At these times she will abandon the likes Jaryd. Even William laughs at his foolery
group to sit by herself for a while. and gives him free drinks.

If any character, especially another woman, If the characters choose to befriend him, he
tries to befriend her, she will readily accept will come to sit with them, ordering another
them. After careful conversation, if the charac- round for everyone at the table (on his new
friends). The first time, William will laugh and

53

tell the party the drinks are on the house- Random encounters
this time. ldlO Roll
1 Adventurer
If asked about the dead people found in the 2-5 Commoner
streets Nerull’sfollowers, he is equally likely to 6 Entertainer
say that he knows nothing (though he will 7 Follower of Kelanen
wink knowingly as he does), or he may relate 8-10 Sailor
all or part (1-6pieces of information) of the
following information, which he believes to be Adventurer: An adventurer recently back
absolutely true, in a hazy sort of way. in town wants to trade stories, and perhaps
magical items. The adventurers who come
Jaryd’s Information here are almost exclusively warriors: William’s
reputation draws them here.
1. After relieving himself of some dis-
igreeable spirits, he heard someone say that Commoner: A commoner comes to trade
;he Dragon’s sword would be here in a few tall tales with his friends or relax from a long
days. (T) day’s work. If the characters are stumped,
these folk could let slip some gossip (one of
2. He saw a group of men catch a compan- Jaryd talphos’s rumors).
ion of his, and many crescent blades reflect-
ing the moonlight. (He hasn’t connected this Entertainer: An entertainer has arrived to
with Serval’s disciples.) (T) ply his trade for the night’s lodging and food.
The quality of the performer is up to you, but
3. He saw a man commanding a group of if asked of the recent happenings, he may ask
skeletons to bring him some victims with the party to buy him dinner (forinformation
which to play. (F) which he will, in fact, make up).

4. A swordsman chanting the name of Follower of Kelanen: A follower of Kelanen
Kelanen charged past him to kill a man car- enters. The party doesn’t know why he is
rying some strange weapon. After dispatch- here: he is watching William. However, he
ing the man, the swordsman dragged the knows who the party is and why they’re here.
body away into the night. (F) He can either provide aid or become the next
victim.
5. He overheard William speaking with a
man about killing a prince. William said Sailor: A sailor arrives just in from sea with
that the sword was coming soon, so efforts a few days to waste and some money to spend.
would have to be redoubled. The other man He is restless from the long voyage and will
said that death came for all, and that death leap at an opportunity to fight. The party
was ready to reap this harvest. (T) should be careful that his buddies aren’t near-
by, for a full-scaleriot might occur.
6 . While staggering home, he heard two
men agree that the best way to solve the About the Inn
problem was to kill Serval, to stop the William is not fond of rowdy guests and will
deaths of Kelanen’sfollowers. (T)
resort use his mercenaries accordingly. The
Statements marked “T” are actually true: city watch doesn’t bother with brawls here,
statements marked “F” are false. unless they spill out into the street.

William never carries a weapon openly,
though beneath the bar he keeps a club (for
the drunks who try to get tough) and his battle
axe +4 (which he keeps there only to discour-
age any would-be thieves). If anyone draws a
weapon, William will immediately yell at the
person to stop and charge between the com-
batants with his axe.

William keeps no money upon his person,
nor is a substantial sum to be found in his
quarters. In the cellar, however, he has six

barrels containing treasure. the bottom half of scythe. The few who ask him questions crum-
each barrel is filled with the treasures he has ble beneath the power of his voice, and his
collected in his past, while the top halves are claims seem valid and true. If the party de-
filled with a very cheap wine. cides to question him, he will talk. Sooner or
later he will ask if they would like to join him.
In William’s quarters, the desk has a secret If they wanted, they soon could be new mem-
compartment behind the topmost drawer. bers of the Weary traveler’s little family. After
Concealed here are several letters. TWOare they prove their loyalty, that is.
from Serval concerning the induction of new
followers, and contain the names of many fol- As a first step, Serval will invite the party to
lowers of Kelanen. The third letter (found be- the Weary traveler after hours to find out
low) is from an unknown author. more about them. After talking with them, he
will ask that they perform a task for him.
William, There are, hanging in the local temple to Ke-
lanen, several swords that his avatar has sup-
We h a v e a special duty for you to undertake. We have posedly touched, wielded or blessed. If the
characters bring back any one of these items,
conhnced a priest ofNerull that it is in our mutual best interestfor they will be accepted members of the sect. Not
him to, on our beha$ eradicate all those HlhofolloH)Kelanen, all tests are so rigorous, but the PCs appear to
including H i s %yal Highness, Jeon 11.3 h e prince poses us a be especially capable.

dire threat. r f he can ignite the embers ofthe former greatness . . . If the characters accept, go to the section

3 h i s de cannot allod. Do as you must, but Jeon must die. titled The Temple.
30this end SenJal has been ordered to gather ned members, and They can, of course, refuse Serval’s offer
quickly, so that a systematic eradication of & h e n $folloders can
be undertaken. Have those in your employ aid him in this, as it dill without penalty.
hasten us todards our goal.
When Jeon shod5 himseg eliminate him. For this de are send- Attacking Serval
ing a g$: the sword Ofthe Dragon. H e is to be killed d t h this If the party attacks Serval, he will flee the
blade. knowing who and what we are, the blade will not serve us,
but know this: ifit is ever used to slay a member of the royal line it scene at once, while his four disciples hold the
serves, it will be destroyed. Ifsuch a thing should occur, two obsta- party off. The disciples will not flee no matter
cles to our greater success would be removed. what their losses.

For powers glory. Serval will try to get to one of two places:
The Weary traveler or to the town guard. If
A small shed behind the inn holds spare cornered, he will fight with his scythe. Note
beds, blankets and the like. William and Ser- that fighting inside the city, especially with
val have the only keys to unlock the door. In drawn weapons, will attract the town guard.
the far back of the shed, a secret door is hid-
den beneath various pieces of lumber and bro- Serval: Int High; AL CE; AC 2; MV 9; C8; hp
ken bed frames. It leads to the place where 42; #AT 1;Dmg 1-8or spell; SD surprised only
William and his mercenaries meet with Serval on a roll of 1;S Z M; ML 14;XP 1,400. Spells:
and his disciples. This secret meeting place
will be the setting for much of the future 3/3/3/2. Items: scythe, chain mail + 3.
action in this adventure. However, aside from
’ a half dozen non-magical weapons stored here, Disciples (4):Int Ave; AL CE; AC 5 (leather
there is little of interest. armor + Dexterity);MV 12; F/C 514; hp 33, 31,
30, 28, 25; #AT 1;Dmg 1-3;SD surprised only
The Marketplace on a roll of 1;SZ M; ML 20; XP 650. Spells: 31
2. Items: leather armor, sickle.
Serval can be found here for most of the day,
along with many other street clerics, plying town Guard: Int Ave; AL NG; AC 2; F5; hp
the crowd with his voice. He is an imposing 33 each; MV 6; Dmg 1-8;S Z M; ML 12; XP
figure in rust-red robes carrying a great 175. Items: plate mail, shield, long sword,
whistle to alert other guards.

The Temple

The characters find that the entrances to the
temple and the doors into the worship room
are guarded at all times by two sentries.

56

Sentries: Int High; AL LG; AC 5; MV 9; F7; statue wields a two-handed sword in one hand
hp 55; #AT 3/2; Dmg 1-10+3;SZ M; ML 17; and will attack anyone trying to steal one of
XP 650. Items: two-handed sword +3,chain the temple’s holy swords.
mail).
Guardian statue: Int Non; AL N; AC 0; MV
Access into these areas are easily gained, 12;HD 20; hp 95; #AT 1; Dmg 1-10;SD: im-
and weapons are permitted in the worship mune to fire, cold, electricity; S Z L; ML spe-
room, as Kelanen is a patron of warriors. Dur- cial; XP 12,000.Item: two-handed sword.
ing the day many warriors can be found here
in prayer. From the entrance, the temple The statue will stop only if it is destroyed, or
swords can be seen hanging on a wall behind a if the offending characters abandon the
ten-foot statue of Kelanen, and any number of swords. It can follow the swords to any place
worshipers will be present as well. in the city because it always knows exactly
where they are. (Thismight actually help the
A member of the clergy will soon find the party achieve its goal. If the party gives the
party and ask if he can help them. He will stolen swords to Serval, the statue will follow
readily counsel them about any problems they them to him.)
have, and he will just as easily leave them to
themselves if they but ask. If the party tells If the party has suffered great wounds and
the cleric what they are going to do, they shall failed to get the swords, Serval will still accept
be thrown from the church. them (buthe will in no way let them know this
before they make the attempt).
If they ask to speak to a higher member of
the church, they will ushered into the pres- The Dragon Sword
ence of the patriarch. If the party confides in A few day’s after the temple raid, the charac-
him, he will arrange for them to carry out an
exact replica of one of the swords. He will also ters learn that the Sword of the Dragon will be
spread the rumor that an unknown band shown to them that very night in the secret
broke into the temple, killed some guards, and meeting-place. Each of the initiates are to
fled into the night with one of the holy swords come forward and hold the sword to re-
of Kelanen. Serval will believe that the party dedicate themselves to the success of their
has succeeded in its mission and will order plans. The party might escape with the sword
them to destroy the sword (trusting them to at this time if they act quickly enough.
carry out the order).
If they wait, however, they will discover that
If, however, the characters decide that they one of the initiates is to use the sword against
can steal one of the swords, they will discover Jeon. Lots will be drawn for the honor. A cele-
that the temple is never without a worshiper bration for the winner will be held. The PCs
or sentry. During the day there are always at can escape with the sword after the celebra-
least ten worshipers and four sentries. At tion, for the NPCs will be quite drunk.
night there are never more than five wor-
shipers, nor less than two. In addition, there The Informant
are two sentries.
No matter the course of action the party
Worshiper (varies):Int Ave; AL NG; AC 5; takes, after two days of being on the streets, a
MV 9;F5; hp 29 each; #AT 1; Dmg 1-8;SZ M; man in his mid-twenties will approach them.
ML 12;XP 175. Items: chain mail, long sword. He will have an arrogant smile on his face
while he whistles a tune. He will walk straight
Sentries (4or 2):Int High; AL LG; AC 5; up to the characters, with a quickly mumbled
MV 9; F7; hp 55; #AT 312; Dmg 1-10+3;SZ M; hello between tunes, then casually reaches for
ML 17;XP 650. Items: two-handed sword + 3 , one of the character’s swords.
chain mail).
If the characters make as if to attack, he will
If the party tries to steal the holy swords by nimbly bound two strides away without losing
magical means (teleporting, invisibility, etc.), his tune, smile still in place. He will then walk
the main statue animates and begins to move forward again and do exactly the same thing.
toward the swords, without deviation. The
If the party finally chooses not to try to at-
tack him, as he draws the sword halfway from
the sheath he will ask:

57

“Did you lose something.” His smile will corner, invisible, to see if they are actually
grow as he scans the skies with a hand servants of Serval. If he can discern their real
shading his eyes saying, “Dragons are not motives from their conversation, he will take a
a t all common to this land. Could I help you timely moment to reappear without their no-
find it. My name,” he says while bowing, ” is ticing.
Terrin Havener. I am at your service.”
If, however, they did whistle the tune, he
’IlerrinHavener: Int Exceptional; AL NG; will be standing before the open window with
AC - 1;MV 12; T14; hp 47; #AT 1;Dmg 1- a crossbow, carefully unloading it. He will ask
6 +4; S A backstab X 5; SZ M; ML 16;XP 8,000. that they shut and lock the door, then that
Items: Leather armor +3,ring ofprotection they enjoy the food that he has ordered. (If the
+3.cloak o finvisibility,short sword +4, dag- characters distrust him and refuse the food, he
ger +3. will begin sampling each item there to prove
his trustworthiness.)
At this, Terrin will start laughing. “For a
price, of course.” This done, he will ask about payment and if
they brought sufficient funds with which to
If the party asks how he knows about the purchase his knowledge. He will tell them to
Sword o f the Dragon, he will dodge their ques- stop him after his first sentence if they already
tion, merely saying that he knows people who have the information, for he does not want to
know people, and that he was on the grape- waste his breath or time, nor their money. He
vine at the right time. If they ask the where- knows the listed information, in order.
abouts of the sword, he laughs and asks where
his payment is. When the party asks for a 1.I know the task which Serval will ask you
price, Terrin asks the party if they like to gam- to perform if you join his sect. He will demand
ble. Then he will say either 200 gp for each that to prove your intentions, you steal from
piece of information, or 1,000for everything the temple of Kelanen one of the blessed
he knows. swords. Few have been asked to do this. All
have died at the hands of the statue without
Regardless of their choice, he will tell them having ever gotten so close as to touch one of
to meet him at the Guard lbwer Inn just after the swords.
nightfall. Once there, they are to ask the bar-
keeper, Dougalas, to see the whistling man. 2. The statue of the temple of Kelanen is
alive. It is pointless to try to harm it with fire,
A t the Guard ’IlowerInn cold, or electricity as Kelanen made it such
that these do not affect it. It is rumored to be
If the party asks the barkeeper to see the the sole guardian of the swords.
whistling man, he will tell them to be seated
for a while and enjoy free drinks. After about 3.The sect has a secret meeting place. It can
half an hour he will send a waitress out to be found beneath the shed behind the Weary
their table with a note and a key. The note Traveler. How access is gained I do not know.
says:
4. I know where the Sword of the Dragon
30speak dth the Whistling man, you have to k r w ~a j h tunes can be found. A group of men arrived late in
the night at Serval’s meeting place carrying a
yourseg Can you remember what he Hhistled earlier today? Have tightly wrapped bundle. A comrade of mine
you ever noticed that the air, Without a song, is empty? Here is the saw the sword and told me of it. To the best of
my knowledge, at least four of the town’s best
key to his room. thieves tried to go in after it last night. None
came out this morning.
If the characters insert the key without hav-
ing whistled the tune (which is easily remem-
bered), when they enter the room it will be
empty, an open window his obvious means of
escape. Actually, he is standing quietly in a

58

Conclusion Aftermath

By the time the party has gotten all the in- Both William and Serval have taken pains to
formation from Terrin, they will be close to a set up connections with the local authorities
solution, if they haven’t resolved the matter (mostly by making sure that certain individual
already. If they have infiltrated the evil group, watch members owe them favors). If they are
they will be in a position to take the sword captured and turned over to the city watch,
almost any time after the final celebration. they will use these connections to escape.

If they have not infiltrated the group, they If the party returns the Sword of the Dragon
will still know the location of the secret meet- to Jeon, his hospitality will be lavish (and he
ing place, and have learned from Terrin that might offer the party further employment, for
the sword is in the hands of the priest. In this there is still much to be done). He will most
case, they can arrange to burst in on the plot- certainly throw a celebration to honor the re-
ters and take the blade by force. In this case, turn of the sword. At the party, the player
the DM should have all the survivors on hand: characters might find themselves on the track
William, Serval, the disciples, Group One (and of another adventure.
perhaps Group W o )from the inn. As the
group has been growing rapidly, the DM can Regardless of whether the party accepts
add any number of new recruits, including more work or not, Jeon will grant each party
spell casters and other adventuring types. member two magical items, instead of the one
This will be especially useful if the party is of originally offered, from a collection that he has
higher level characters. Remember, as the acquired. No magic greater than + 3 will be
party makes their approach, that priests of found here (although, if the adventure has
Nerull will be surprised only on a roll of 1. been altered for higher level characters, Jeon
might have knowledge of the locations of such
treasures). The prince will extend the gener-
ous hospitality of his castle to the party when-
ever they need it. Should they ever need a
friend, transport, or nearly anything else,
while in these lands, Jeon will provide it for
them, if it is within his power.

If William is killed, Jeon will offer the inn
and its contents to the party as a bonus. The
prince will not care about the treasure in the
basement of William’s,nor any other treasure
that the party might have chanced upon, other
than his sword, of course. If the player charac-
ters do not want the inn, Jeon will turn it over
to Frederick for disposal.

If the party has killed any of the followers of
Nerull, they may well have made a powerful
enemy in the sect of Nerull (encourage them to
believe so).The followers of Nerull are not ac-
customed to being “harvested” themselves,
and some will be outraged by the party’s
actions. In fact, any worshiper of Nerull in this
adventure who was not killed will tell other
members of the sect what the characters have
done. This can lead to many future adven-
tures, at the DM’s discretion.

59

Crossing Into Steel The Monastery of Heironeous

terrain: Any The muddy dirt road crests a low rise, re-
total Party Levels: 48 vealing a small valley. In the center of the
Average Party Level: 8th valley, under leaden skies, lies a small ham-
Adventure XP: let, through which the road passes. Halfway
down the valley a single winding path leads
Full: 25,800 from the right side of the road to a small
Partial: 19,350 group of buildings nestled in a secluded dell.
Retreat: 6,450 Surely this small group of building must be
the monastery of Heironeous.
Set U p
If the party takes the path:
* A s the characters travel through the rain-
The path seems seldom used. Sodden grain
soaked countryside, a small hawk swoops fields lie to either side of the path. In the
down and drops a rolled piece of parchment at distance you see what looks like a small
their feet. The parchment is from a local mon- three-story stone farm house and the tops of
astery dedicated to Heironeous. The message two smaller outlying buildings. A 10’ stone
inquires if they would perform a special mis- fence surrounds the structures.
sion. If so, they should tell none in the valley,
but come at once to the local monastery. They The grain is wheat used for the making of
are to go to the first stone farm house they can bread: its height depends upon the current
see from the road. season. The fields are very soft and muddy.
traveling off the path through them is at half
Note: The Church of Heironeous is lawful the normal rate; furthermore, a Strength
and good; this is common knowledge. check must be made once per turn to keep
from becoming stuck in the mire. The monas-
DM’s Background tery was constructed by the earliest settlers to
Asanther, a former paladin, now a priestess this region, and its walls still look defendable.

. .of Heironeous has lived a long and full life . As the characters walk through the front
gates, the sound and smell of barnyard ani-
but she is not ready to die. ?bo many quests mals emanates from both of the two outlying
have been left unfulfilled. She has contacted buildings.
the player characters in order to help her con-
tinue to complete good works. The paladin/ A small, robust young woman casually car-
priestess wants to visit a devoted former love, rying a pitchfork walks out of one of the two
the arch-mage Ilkif. She wants her spirit smaller structures. She looks at you for a
placed into her holy avenger sword so she may split second, pulls the long hair from over
continue to fight evil as long as it threatens the her eyes, smiles and says, “Greetings trav-
land and people she so dearly loves. Long ago, elers, I am Tythis.” Now, what brings you to
Ilkif, in a moment of passion, agreed to per- the shrine of Heironeous?”
form this for Asanther when they were both
old and gray. Asanther does not know that the After listening to the PCs explanation,
casting of the spell will use the last of Ilkif s life Tythis will lead them into the main house.
energies.
Tythis is sixteen years old. She has lived at
J u n u s Jakkar, the local burgomaster, has the shrine all her life. She never knew her
heard that Asanther has plans to leave the mother or father. This is her life and home.
area (but nothing else). She has been useful in
caring for the peasants, healing them when
they have been sick or injured. Jakkar feels
that her leaving would cause an uprising.
Thus, he has ordered his men to keep an eye
on any strangers who travel to the monastery.
He will use any means at his disposal to keep
Asanther from leaving this area.

60

Soon after Ansanther arrived two other priests framed by a luxurious cascade of black and
of Heironeous moved away. Now only she and silver hair that falls to the small of her back.
Asanther (who has been like a mother to her) She wears a deep blue robe trimmed in sil-
live here. ver. She smiles gravely, a brilliant smile that
radiates an aura of trust and understanding.
Tythis: Int Exceptional; AL LG; AC 10;C1; Her movements, however, are weary. She
hp 7; MV 12; #AT 1;THACO 20; Dmg 2-8 nods, and moves slowly toward the covered
(pitchfork);SZ M; ML 12; S 14, D 14, C 15,I chair.
16,W 14, Ch 13.Spells: purifyfood & water,
locate animals orplants, cure light wounds. Ansanther is not as tired as she appears. She
is merely “sizing up” the party. She will not
The shrine is comprised of one large main speak until seated comfortably in the uphol-
building and two smaller outbuildings. One of stered chair. If a PC is sitting in the chair she
the smaller buildings houses pigs and goats. will stand beside it and wait for that person to
The other is an empty stable. Inside are four move. This is another test. Once seated she
stalls for riding animals. An old set of riding smiles again at the PCs and slowly begins:
tack hangs from the wall. The stable looks like
it hasn’t been used in over twenty years. “Mine is a tale of hardship and of joy; now of
little importance. As I have grown older I
The main building is the living area. The have also grown wiser. Many are my re-
building has seven rooms: a front sitting room, grets, and few the deeds of which I am still
two bedrooms, a small infirmary (4patients proud. There is something I must do before
maximum), a bath room, a kitchen, and a I die. Years ago, I entrusted a very powerful
small prayer room. Ansanther and Tythis magical item to a dear friend of mine. I must
share one of the bedrooms. The other is a
guest room for visiting clergy. Each bedroom retrieve the item before I die . . .if I do not
contains two beds, a chamber pot, and a small . . . the land may suffer and evil may fall
armoire (wardrobe cabinet) for belongings.
None of the interior doors have locks. upon the people I hold dear. Will you please
help me?”
The Main House
Ansanther will not reveal the nature of the
Tythias leads you to a small, sparsely fur- item, unless there is a paladin amongst the
nished, sitting room. tastefully arrayed in group. Even then, she will tell only that char-
the room are a small padded sofa, a covered acter, and only after the character swears an
chair, and three wooden benches. An an- oath of secrecy that will last until the item (the
cient oak table holds a single three-forked sword) has been reclaimed.
candelabrum. An empty fireplace is framed
by a large flagstone hearth. Ansanther carries no weapons. She lost her
arm in battle, but refuses to talk about the
Tythis motions to the seats and says, incident. Soon after, she joined the priesthood.
“Please make yourselves comfortable, I will She cares deeply for the land and for the peo-
return with the lady you seek very shortly.” ple who work it daily. ’Ib this end she has dedi-
cated her life. She owns little, except her
Give the PCs a few minutes to collect them- clothing and some monies, having donated
selves and explore their surroundings. There everything else to the church. Ansanther is
are no secret doors or hidden areas in the beautiful and confident. Except for her appar-
room. ent weariness, she does not look her 73 years
of age.
The Priestess Ansanther
Asanther (cleric/paladin)I:nt Exceptional;
A few minutes later, the door opens. A el- AL LG; AC 10 (0in armor);C/P 4/10; hp 77;
derly woman enters, a woman whose right MV 6; #ATnil; Dmg nil; THACO 18 (11);S Z M;
ML 16; S 12, D 9, C 11,I 16,W 18,Ch 18.
arm is missing at the shoulder. Her face is

Items: chain mail +Z, shield +2.Spells: cure want to leave by dawn at the latest. Before she
light wounds ( X 2), detect poison, locate ani- departs, she will don her magical armor.
mals or plants, purifyfood & water; slow poi- Tythis will stay at the shrine until Ansanther’s
son ( X 2),speak with animals, withdraw. return. Unfortunately, Ansanther’s path leads
through the center of the hamlet.
When the PCs agree to help her, she con-
tinues. The Hamlet
The hamlet is comprised of a number of es-
“There is a magical lake three days’journey
from here. The man who resides there is tablishments, all owned and operated by the
whom I seek. I will gladly pay you for your burgomaster and his men.
time with what little gold I own. Also per-
haps, I shall entrust you with an item of 1. ”Old Wives ’Me”tavern. (open days and
great importance, if you are worthy.” nights until midnightho rooms)

Ilkif the Mage lives at the magical lake. He 2. Smithy (theburgomaster’s: open days)
has been keeping her sword, a holy avengec
for her. If questioned, Ansanther will smile 3. Warehouse (the burgomaster’s; holds farm-
and tell the PCs that Ilkif is a devoted former ing supplies such as grain, farming equip-
love. She wants to see him before she dies ment, etc.; opened only by the burgomaster).
more than anything else in the world (this is
the truth!). 4. Spinning Shop (the burgomaster’s: turns
wool to yarn: open days)
Ansanther has 10,000gold pieces left from
her richer adventuring days. She will give the 5. Manor House (theburgomaster’s: fortified
PCs 1,000each. The remainder she will leave and well sited for local defense).
to Tythis.
6. Stables (theburgomaster’s: contains 2
“My only concerns are my lack of youth, horses, 2 pack mules, and 4 oxen).
and the possibility that I might meet resist-
ance attempting to leave this area. Junus If the PCs send a scout to the village during
Jakkar, the local burgomaster, has ordered the day, most of the buildings will be open.
me to remain at this shrine. He fears that Local residents are friendly to travelers, but at
my departure, even for a day or two, could first opportunity will inform the burgomaster
affect his field laborers. He is a greedy and of someone new passing through town (the
insensitive man who fears too much. burgomaster rewards obedient workers). The
scout may learn l d 6 of the following rumors.
“The land and its people are the most All rumors are true.
important things in my life. Even if I were to
leave for a short time I would return. Janus Local Rumors
thinks only of his fat belly. Forgive me if I
speak ill of him, but he often bullies the peo- 1. Ansanther is one of the kindest, most
ple who work so hard to put food on his
plate. .caring people in these parts.

“The sooner we leave, the sooner we may 2. Junus Jakkar is not a bad sort. . com-
return. If the terms are suitable, I leave the
matter in your hands.” pared to animal droppings. He’s gone fat and
greedy.
Ansanther would like to set off at once, but
will bide her time if need be. She will offer 3. The priestess has seemed tired lately.
meager fare (bread and porridge) to the PCs. Many fear for her health.
She will offer a bath and a place for the PCs to
sleep if they are tired. In the morning, she will 4. Junus Jakkar has hired a mage who is
rarely seen in the hamlet.

5. Something has been killing sheep in the
area lately. No one knows what is doing the
killings.

6. The burgomaster doubled the guard to-

. .day. Maybe it has something to do with the

sheep being killed . maybe not.

62

The Burgomaster’sGuards to return Asanther to the shrine unharmed. If
the invisible stalker is defeated, Mercres will
When the player characters and Asanther simply shrug at the burgomaster and return to
leave the shrine they are confronted by a group his work.
of the burgomaster’s men. Depending on the
PCs actions, the time it takes the guards to in- Invisible Stalker: Int High; AL N; AC 3;
tercept the PC will vary. If the PCs travel HD 8;hp 34;MV 12,F1 12 (A); #AT 1;THACO
through the hamlet, the encounter occurs 13;Dmg 4-16(4d4);S Z L (8’tall);SA Surprise
there. If the PC’s take to the fields, the guards ( -6 penalty against victim); SD Invisibility
will travel along the road, keeping an eye on (foesattack at -2);SZ L; ML 13;XP 5,000.
them until they attempt to get back on the
road. The guards are wearing chain mail ar- Junus Jakkar, the Burgomaster: Int Ex-
mor, and carrying spears and long swords. ceptional; AL N; AC 5 (studded leather + 2);
They ultimately attempt to bar the party’s way. F4; hp 24;MV 9;#AT 1;THACO 17;Dmg ld4
(dagger);S Z M; ML 14;XP 120;S 13,D 9,C
Your way is blocked by a group of official- 17,I 15,W 10,Ch 13.The portly burgomaster
looking armored men carrying spears and is a selfish, petty man. All he cares about is
short swords. the prosperity of his valley and himself. He
cares little for those who toil in his fields. He
Give the PCs a round to prepare. One of the spends most days eating and drinking, since
guards addresses the PCs. there is little else to do in the valley.

The guard(s)have been ordered to return An- Mercres the Mage: Int High; AL N; AC 6
santher to the shrine. Their purpose is set and
they are prepared to fight. Ansanther’s pur- (Dexterity,ring ofprotection +2);M7; hp 16;
pose is also set; she won’t turn back. #AT 1;THACO 18;Dmg 1-4;SZ M; ML 12;XP
975;S 9,D 16,C 12,I 14,W 14,Ch 12.Spells:
Guards (10):Int Ave; AL LN; AC 4 (chain);
F2;hp 13 each; MV 12;#AT 1;Dmg 1-6(spear, 4/3/21/. Mercres is currently involved in per-
short sword);THACO 19;S Z M; ML special; XP sonal spell research and hates to be disturbed.
15.The baron’s guards are afraid of the peas- In a couple of years he expects to be powerful
ants’ reaction when they find Asanther gone. enough to turn the burgomaster into a slug on
Hence, the guards will fight to keep her, even a whim. He just has to put up with the fat fel-
against her will. Any guardsman who is in- low a little longer.
jured will withdraw from the fight. When half
or more of the group is out of action, the re- When the forces of the burgomaster are de-
mainder will scatter. feated the party may continue. The rest of that
day’s travel passes uneventfully. Progress is
Reinforcements slow, because of Ansanther’s infirmity. After a
short day of travel, the next encounter will
From the safety of his own home, the burgo- occur when the party stops to sleep.
master is watching these developments (either
from the upper stories or via the crystal ball of A Stop on the Road
Mercres the Mage).If Jakkar sees that his
troops are losing, he will demand that Mercres Long before the party is used to stopping,
to “do something”. The mage complies by Ansanther tells them that she must rest. She
reading a magical scroll, summoning an invisi- has not traveled in a number of years and is
ble stalker. The mage commands the creature “not as young as she was once”.

About an hour after the PCs have made camp
they will be attacked by a pack of hungry wolves.
Any wolf falling below half its total hit points
will flee. After 5 or more wolves are seriously
injured or killed the remainder of the pack will
attempt to flee. Ansanther will not participate,
but will cure any wounded characters.

Wolves (10):Int Semi; AL N; AC 7;MV 18;
HD 2+2;hp 12 each; THACO 19;#AT 1;Dmg
2-5;SZ S;ML 10;XP 65 each.

Ilkif’s bwellinc;

The wolf pack has met with great success a FOYER

preying on area sheep herds. Since they have B tivinq Room
not met any resistance from the locals they
have become confident enough to attack the C llklc’s BsbROOm
camping PCs.
6 Cjusst Room
The rest of the night and entire second day
pass uneventfully. The PCs and Ansanther € maqic WoRkshop
continue to travel until Ansanther believes
they are close to the lake. She continues, “Ilkif the mage once gave me
this device. It will lead us to the lake
The Lake of M i s t through the magical mist.” A s she holds the
item in her hand the water defies gravity
~ ~~ ~~ ~ ~ and slides up the inside of the sphere.

You have traveled another short day. Again Smiling, Ansanther says, “Ilkif was al-
ways so clever. The water shows us the di-
you stop by the roadside so that Ansanther rection in which the lake lies. Beware
though, for the mist is thick, and we must
may rest. As sunset approaches Ansanther pass through it quickly, as fell things are
known to live within. Lastly, beyond the
beckons you to sit near her. mist at the edge of the lake stands the
guardian. Fear not, it has never stopped me
“The time has come,” Ansanther speaks in the past.”

in a voice little above a whisper, “to tell you In the morning, the road enters thickly
wooded terrain. Shortly afterwards, Ansanthei
of the wonders of the Lake of Mist. The lake leads the party from the trail into the woods. P
turn after they enter the woods, the magical
is small but protected but powerful magics mist begins to rise. If the characters do not
stay in a group they could easily become sepa-
and surrounded by a thick mist. It can not rated. The mist limits all vision (magical or
otherwise) to ten feet or less. After another
be found on any map, But can be found turn of walking, shapes can be seen moving
through the mist.
with this. . .”

So saying, Ansanther reveals a small,

clear glass ball that is half filled with water.

As you pick your way through the thick the lake. More importantly, a massive stone
mist, you begin to see long shapes close to golem stands between you and the lake
the ground lope back and forth at the edge shore. Next to the golem is a large, 5’diame-
of your vision. ter brass gong mounted on a post.

Pause for a moment to allow the players to Suddenly the golem reaches out and
have their characters react, then continue. strikes the gong with its huge fist. The note
reverberates across the lake. Nothing else
Suddenly, you hear the howl of a wolf not seems to happen.
more than twenty feet directly ahead of you!
Snotme is hiding behind the golem waiting fo1
These are mist wolves, and they will not a sign from Ilkif. When no sign comes, he qui-
attack unless provoked. The mist wolves are etly orders the stone golem to attack the tres-
not responsible for the magical mist that aris- passers, meaning to drive them back into the
es in the area, but they do gather here. They forest.
will follow the party unless driven off.
Ever so slowly, the stone golem turns to-
Mist Wolves (12):Int Ave; AL LG; AC 6; HD ward you. He begins to raise his hands and
3+3;hp 14 each; MV 18;#AT 1;THACO 17; move forward.
Dmg 2-6 (2d3);SD Breathe wall offog spell
(1,000cubic feet);MR 10%;S Z M (4‘at shoul- Ansanther quickly asks the PCs to do the fol-
der); ML 13;XP 175. lowing:

Guardians of the Lake “Tell the golem who we are and why we
have come. Please! Ilkif will hear you!”
Ilkif chose to settle here because he liked the
mysterious lake and the pack of lawful good The plea is to no avail. (Snotme has heard Ilkif
mist wolves that inhabit the area. To protect tell stories of a beautiful woman from his past,
his home, Ilkif created a stone golem. Unfortu- but being a gentleman, Ilkif has never men-
nately Ilkif has been ill for some time, and has tioned her by name.)
turned over control of the stone golem to a
pixie named Snotme who lives nearby. Stone Golem: Int Non; AL N; AC 5; MV 6;
HD 14; hp 60; THACO 7; #AT 1;Dmg 3-24
Ilkif has placed a gong along the lake shore (3d8);S A slow spell every second round within
and has instructed Snotme to have the stone 10‘;S D + 2 or better weapons to hit; SZ L; ML
golem strike the gong whenever strangers 19; XP 10,000.
reach the lake shore. If Ilkif wanted to see the
visitors, he would call to Snotme to let them Snotme the Pixie: Int Exceptional; AL N;
pass. Otherwise, Snotme could use whatever AC 5; MV 6, F1 12 (B);HD V2;hp 4; THACO 20
means were necessary to send the travelers on (16);#AT 1;Dmg By weapon; S A Spells, magi-
their way. Ilkif has become so ill that he can no cal arrows at + 4 to hit; SD Invisibility, spells;
longer contact Snotme, which will cause some MR 25%;S Z S;ML 11;XP 270 each. The mag-
problems when the characters arrive.
ical arrows are of three types: war ( l d 4+ 1
Ahead, you hear the sound of water lapping
against a gentle shore. As the mist clears, damage), sleep (save vs. spells or sleep l d 6
you see that you stand about 100‘from the hours),and memory loss (save vs. spells or
edge of a small lake. The lake is circular, lose all memory).
about one hundred yards in diameter. An
opaque sphere, one hundred feet in diame- Snotme’s spell abilities include: dancing
ter, floats above the water in the center of lights, dispel magic (asan 8th level mage),
ESR and Otto’s irresistible dance. He can also
cause confusion (asper spell)by touch.

65

During the combat the golem will cast its As the smaller sphere makes contact with
slow spell and engage the PCs in physical com- the bottom of the larger sphere, you feel a
bat. Snotme will run to a place of relative safety change of motion. You are rising, up into the
and hide. He will call the PCs silly names (in a opaque sphere. The smaller sphere in which
high pitched voice) and take the following you travel seems to meld into the larger one
actions each round. Snotme will cease any at- as you rise into a small circular foyer, a re-
tacks when and if the golem is defeated. ception area. The room contains a padded
bench, a rack holding a hooded cloak and a
Round One: Snotme will cast dispel magic on cape (both non-magical),and an empty
PCs then say, “You call that fighting? I know weapons rack. A set of circular stairs set
brownies that are tougher than all of you!” into the wall leads upward.

Round TWO and after: Snotme will begin After a moment Ansanther calls Ilkifs name.
No response is heard.
firing sleep arrows at the PCs (beginning with
spell casters) and say things like, “Nap time The walls on this level are opaque and made
for the big folks!” or “Sweet dreams!” or “It’s of some unknown substance. The furniture is
Mr. Sandman!”,etc. made of wood.

Snotme will not aid the characters for any Upon ascending the stairs, you notice that
reason. If Snotme is caught or killed, the go- the walls on this level are transparent from
lem will cease fighting immediately. this side, providing a beautiful view of the
lake and surrounding shore. The floor and
If the golem is defeated, Snotme quietly ceiling remain opaque. The furniture in the
moves to a new location and waits for the PCs room is of an odd design and curious sub-
to approach the lake. Then Snotme will yell: stance.

is a big, huge, bad, terrible monster in that Arranged in a semicircle in the center of
lake. It will eat you up, yep, swallow you the room, the pieces seem to be made of an
opalescent material, the color of soap bub-
Actually, there is nothing in the lake but a bles. Stairs inset within either wall appear
few fish. The threat is Snotme’s last resort. to be made of the same material. Each stair-
way leads to a separate landing.
When the PCs decide that it is safe to go
near the water, Ansanther performs the follow- At the second level Asanther again calls Ilkif s
ing actions. name. This time a faint moaning can be heard
from the left landing area.
Ansanther wearily walks to the water’s
edge. Every step seems to require a tremen- Both landings hold sleeping rooms. Ilkifs is
dous effort. Ansanther gingerly places the to the left.
glass sphere in the water. The sphere slowly
begins to grow, enlarging into a into a Upon opening the door at the top of the left-
sphere twelve feet in diameter. Ansanther most landing you see an old man lying in
passes her hand over a part of the sphere bed. His sheets and bed covers are twisted
and a small 3‘X 3’ door appears its side. and knotted. He is fevered, delirious, and
moaning softly in pain. Ansanther sees him
Ansanther turns to you and says, “Please and rushes to his side. “Ilkif, my poor
hurry, I feel very weak and I am worried
about Ilkif.’’ Ilkif. . .”, she cries.

The sphere is large enough to hold the entire Ilkif is very ill. Ansanther realizes he may not
party. The PCs can soon discover that the recover from his sickness. She immediately
sphere can be rolled across the lake by walk- turns to the PCs.
ing on the bottom of the sphere as it floats on
the water. The trip takes about one turn.

66

“Please leave u s alone for a time. I will do all Upon investigation, the characters find Ilkif s
in my power to help or comfort him as I can. sleeping room empty. A stair that was previ-
Please, our time together may be short. I ously unnoticed leads to an open trap door in
also suggest that you rest, since we all know the ceiling.
that we are safe here.”
Ascending the stair and peering through the
Note that a cure disease spell will not have a open trap door, you see what may have
major effect; Ilkifs main malady is age. How- been a magic workshop. The room is ablaze
ever, any curing or life-strengthening magic in multicolored flames. A beautiful, glowing
(such as a cure disease spell or a potion of lon- long sword lies atop a burning tome in the
gevity or vitality)will strengthen Ilkif for the middle of the floor.
trial to come and give the characters who pro-
vide it an XP bonus equal to that of the item at R’ I the right and left are the bodies of
the conclusion of the adventure. Ansanther and Ilkif. Ilkifs left hand still
rests on the burning book, his right is
The party is left to their own devices at this wrapped around Ansanther. Asanther lies
point, Ansanther suggests they get a good still. Her right hand rests on the pommel of
night’s sleep. After most of the party falls the shining sword.
asleep, or an hour after Asanther and Ilkif are
The long sword is a holy avenger +5. The per-
left alone . . .
sonality of Ansanther has been merged with
You are startled from your thoughts by a the sword. Both NPCs are dead. Nothing of
huge eruption of sound and brilliant blast of value remains in the workshop. The burning
light from the top of the sphere. tome is Ilkif s spell book; it is a total loss.

Y

67

J u s t then, the sphere will begin to break up. mage who cost her sword arm when she was a
The magic that was holding it together ended paladin (and the DM should pick a suitable
when Ilkif died. In one full turn, the sphere location for the next adventure).
will break apart and even the shards will even-
tually fade away. Ansanther, the H o l y Avenger
Ansanther, Holy Avenger:AL LG; I 14,
All around you the sphere begins to shake.
Ilkif s bubble seems to be collapsing. The E 18;Speaks common; Primary Abilities:
floor and ceiling begin to crack. Pieces of the detect evil, locate object.
outside wall begin to break off and fall into
the lake below. The sphere begins to tilt to If the sword is used in the following ad-
the right. It can only be a matter of a few venture, “Face of Xenous”, the sword also
minutes before the entire sphere shatters. possesses the following powers:

The lake is a short drop beneath the sphere. Special Purpose: Slay Xenous Zenpor.
The large broken pieces of the sphere will re- Special Purpose Power:Disintegrate.
main solid long enough for the characters to (XenousZenpor is an evil mage who, years
float to shore, if they work at it. The wooden ago, slew Ansanther’s last adventuring
k i n i t m ekm1+heh w e k~vb also%its. group and caused the loss of her sword arm.)
Ansanther will want the character “most
Aftermath pure of heart” to carry and wield her. She
wIUuse her new powers to the best of her
When the PCs return to shore, Snotme the ability when wielded by a lawful good indi-
pixie appears and asks: “What happened to vidual. She will make her presence and de-
Ilkif?”, “What happened to the sphere?”, “Got sires known to the first person who picks up
anything good to eat?” Snotme may (or may the sword (though she may be a little dazed
not)join the party as an NPC. and uncertain of the success of Ilkif s magic
at first).
If the PCs return to the hamlet where they
met Ansanther, they find the town in an up- Tythi
roar. They are accused of kidnapping and pos-
sibly the murder of the beloved priestess. +..re Ur

If they flee the town without an explanation, he reason. On
a bounty will be placed on their heads. If the
swordbearer draws the holy avenger, the many years. 11
newly-created sword Ansantber will speak to
the people and tell them of her plan to protect
them. Following the speech, a brawl will erupt
between two factions of townspeople. Half are
grateful, and half believe the party forced her
to do this. The burgomaster opposes the party
and argues to gain the sword for himself. He
will rouse the rabble as much as necessary to
achieve his aim. Run this situation as chaoti-
cally as possible, especially if Snotme has
joined the group.

Unless the characters take decisive action,
Mercres arrives with his new spell and turns
the burgomaster into a slug. He is promptly
acclaimed the new burgomaster by the people,
and the party can leave with the sword.

Ansanther will then start lobbying for her
partner (notowner) to find Xenous Zenpor, the

68

Face of Xenous The young priest speaks quickly and with
much enthusiasm. He speaks so quickly that
Terrain: Any he never seems to finish a sentence before
total Party Levels: 54 starting a new one. He flits from topic to topic
Average Party Level: 9th like a mad butterfly.
Adventure XP:
House of Zagyg, let me take your cloaks,
Full: 54,200 come in and have a seat, I am Abbot Kor-
Partial: 40,650 math Burrsten, at your service, please tell
Retreat: 13,550 me who you are and what I can do for you?”

Set U p Kormath’s parents were patrons of the arts. As
he grew up, he was much influenced by bards,
* If the party is in possession of the holy who were always about. Not inclined to the
musical, he learned instead to “spin yarns”
avenger sword, Ansanther, they are on a quest and re-tell bardic songs as stories. This, coup-
for her arch enemy, Xenous Zenpor. The trail led with a great sense of humor (and a guaran-
has led to leads them to a major city, and ends. teed audience once a week), led Kormath to
The hated Xenous Zenpor cannot be found on his present position. He always wears brightly
the Prime Material plane. At last, Ansanther colored robes and never carries a weapon. He
suggests going to the temple of Zagyg for help. speaks very quickly and positively bubbles
with enthusiasm.
* “Is you travelers new to these parts?”
Abbot Kormath Burrsten (Priest of Za-
rasps an old man called Phlem, who is missing
one ear and most of his teeth. He continues, gyg):Int High; AL CN; AC 10;C5; hp 26; #AT
“Fer a pocket of silvers I’ze cans tell ya where
there’s some real weird stuff going on if ye 1;THACO 18; Dmg 1-6;S Z M; ML 12;XP 420;
S 15,D 14, C 14, I 14, W 16, Ch 17. Spells:
promise to keep it’s quiet-like . . .” (waits for cure light wounds ( X 2), detect evil, purifyfood
the coins) “. . . thank ye. There’s this here & drink, detect magic; augury, detect charm,
know alignment, speak with animals, slow
place (givesstreet location) that not the same poison;locate object.
number of people go in as come out. Some
don’t come out at all.” Once the PCs have entered the building, con-
tinue.
The City
If the characters don’t know where to go and The small front room of this building is a
brightly painted antechamber and sitting
try an augury or divination, it will say: “Seek room. The right hand wall has hooks for
to be amazed”. If the players want their char- cloaks. An empty weapon rack leans oddly
acters to just walk up and down the streets, on the left. The room’s floor is slightly tilted,
have them pass the temple of Zagyg and de- and the furniture is made with one set of
scribe it as “amazing”. legs shorter than the others to compensate.
A single door, slight askew, is on the far
Regardless of how the PCs arrive, the first wall.
significant encounter begins with the young
abbot at the House of Zagyg. The abbot is well pleased by the PCs’ visit. He
will ask lots and lots of questions, wanting to
Without a doubt this is the most unusual know as much as he can learn: Where are the
building you have ever seen. The roof PCs from? How did they get their names? Do
curves and bends. None of the windowless they have any brothers or sisters? What is the
walls are straight. The door is tilted far to most terrible creature they ever faced? (etc.)

the right. And the colors . . . purple, yellow,

red, and pink. A s you survey this architec-
tural motley a smiling young priest stands
proudly by the open front door.

69

The questions will continue until the charac- the three pallets on the floor and the dirty
ters bring him back to the subject at hand. clothes strewn about the room, he rum-
mages through a small chest and returns
When asked about powerful magic, other with a 2’X 2‘ strongbox.
ilanes, or such related subjects, the abbot will
iecome even more excited. Abbot Burrsten opens the locked box and
withdraws an object that looks like a porta-
“Oh yes! I know of a special place. A magi- ble hole, but is gray inside instead of black.
cal place. A holy place too. They are all the Inside the circle a gray mist swirls and ebbs.
same place, an Ethereal “playground” of “It is very simple,just step in and you will
sorts. Zagyg the Great created this magical be near the maze on the other side.”
otherworld place. It is known among the
priests of Zagyg that occasionally Zagyg He does not use the device very often, because
places objects of importance or power into a something “nasty” came out once and tried to
ephemeral maze. Why is known only to the eat him.
Great Zagyg himself.”
The Ethereal Maze
The odds are that Zagyg lures adventurers
there for his own personal amusement. He Once the characters have stepped through
never involves himself, he merely watches they find themselves floating in a special sub-
their struggles. plane much like the Ethereal plane.

“We who carry the words of Zagyg can trav- You find yourselves floating in a swirl of fog.
el to this special place. Perhaps arrange- Your vision extends about 100 feet, then the
ments could be made if you are willing to fog becomes too thick to see through.
make a small ‘donation’to the church.”
Normal walking isn’t possible. Movement
The building holds a device that allows travel here is accomplished by the individual “will-
to the plane of Zagyg. The abbot will forget to ing” himself to move. If the players don’t
mention that those who use this portal usually catch on, drop hints (aplayer saying he wants
have their own way back. If the party fails to to move can be interpreted as the character
characters ask about this now, they may re- willing himself to move). If they are still
gret it later. stumped, allow Intelligence and Wisdom
checks. Magic that enhances vision and infra-
(If they do ask, the abbot will offer them a vision do not work here; normal vision is lim-
crystal rod. Breaking it returns all creatures ited to 100’.
within 10’to their plane of origin. And, oh yes,
it won’t work inside the maze itself. The rod of some kind. The scale of the creation
costs 10,000gp, but the abbot will take first dwarfs that of a mountain range, or small
pick of any treasure recovered, instead.) sea. This could only be the Great Maze of

After the PCs and the abbot come to terms The maze has a peculiar property. Since .
he leads them into the back of the building. many visitors fled the maze when they real-
ized what it was, Zagyg altered it to react to
“Please follow me, pardon the mess, I’m the the will of the beholder. The only way to get to
only one living here now, the other two ab-
the maze is to move away from it. If the PCs
bots are on sabbatical . . .” He chatters on as try to get closer to the maze:

you step into another misshapened room.
This one is a small prayer room that con-
tains a modest library (nomagical tomes).

“Please wait here” the abbot says as he
enters a small sleeping chamber. Avoiding

A s you try to move toward the structure, As you approach a round chamber, you see a
the maze seems to expand and move further body floating upright and lifelessly. The body
away from you. seems to be that of a human warrior, but has
been stripped of all valuables. A s you ponder
Any attempts to move away from the maze the poor fellow’s fate you notice the body
has the following results. beginning to drift in your direction. The body
shows absolutely no signs of life.
The further you try to move from the maze
the smaller and closer it seems to come. The body is being used for cover by a dozen
crimson claws (similar to crawling claws, but
When the PCs finally approach the maze more powerful). If the characters let the body
they see the following. come within 20’, these disembodied hands will
pounce from behind the body, attacking with
Upon closer examination the structure ap- surprise. The surprise is negated if any party
pears to be made of clouds or solid fog. The members position themselves to see the back
clouds at the grand entrance shift to resem- of the body before the attack.
ble the face of a harlequin. The mouth
opens and a 20’X 20’ archway beckons you Crimson Claws (12):Int Non; AL N; AC 2:
to enter. MV 12;HD 2 + 1;hp 12; THACO 19: #AT 1;
Dmg 1-4(armored foes), 1-6(unarmored foes):
The walls are indeed made of ethereal mate- SD immune to death magic, sleep, charm, and
rial that resembles clouds. Characters with a hold spells, immune to poisons, turning, and
Strength of 18or greater can push their way holy water; SZ T: MR 30%;ML 20: XP 270.
through the walls at a rate of one foot per
round. All of the walls of the maze are three Encounter Two: Nearby Hallway
feet thick. All passageways are 20’X 20’. The
maze is constructed in three dimensions: there Around the corner is another body floating
is up and down as well as right and left. in the ethereal mist. It appears to be a fe-
male priest of some type. She wears bright
Maze Encounters yellow robes. A mace floats by her side. A
In this maze most encounters take place in leather bag is strapped to her waist.

the interior circles. Encounters are numbered When the PCs approach, a phantom appears
in order, but not shown on the map. This is to and replays her death at the imaginary hands
allow the DM to place the encounters as de- of the apparition.
sired, depending on what direction the charac-
ters take once they enter the maze. As you approach a ghost-like image of the
woman appears (savevs spell or run away).
Special Note: Paladins lose their protection She seems to be making her way through
from evil bonus while in the maze, although the maze when she turns a corner and runs
spells or devices with this power will still func- into a ghastly undead creature in tattered
tion normally. robes. Terror fills her face. She grasps at
unseen hands at her throat. She struggles
Encounter One: Second Circle then goes limp. Slowly the image fades.
A s the PCs approach the second circle (or as
Phantom: A phantom continuously replays
they push their way through the walls) they a violent or untimely death. Anyone who sees
see a body floating lifelessly in the maze. The
body is being pushed by a dozen concealed, a phantom must save vs. spells at -2 or run
disembodied hands that will attack when they
come within melee range. away as if affected by a fear spell. It has no
other effect.

72

Around the neck of the body is the holy Encounter Four: The Center Circle
symbol of Zagyg. The mace is a footman’s
Eventually the PCs will near the center of
mace +Z.The leather bag contains a scroll the great maze.

case and a silver mirror. Inside the scroll case You have made good progress through the
are two scrolls. The first has: cure light maze. The maze has been quiet so far, but
wounds, cure serious wounds, neutralize poi- up ahead you hear the an argument in a
son, tongues: the second has a plane shift. An strange tongue.
augury or divination cast at this point will
reveal: “The greatest fears are those within”. In the hallway just outside of the center of
the maze are five terithrans; short, humanoid
Encounter Three: Third Circle creatures with long sinewy arms, clawlike
hands and feet, and disproportionately large
The next encounter occurs after the charac- and misshapen heads. They are hotly discus-
ters have continued their trip through the sing a failed foray into the center chamber. Tkn
maze. As they approach a new passageway, a others of their group have already died there.
special apparition turns the corner and heads They have discovered a box that contains the
toward the characters. face of a beautiful woman. The face in the box
has killed their companions.
Cautiously you look into the next circle. As
you do, a ghastly undead creature in tat- If the PCs scout ahead they will discover the
tered robes turns the corner and heads in following:
your direction!
Blocking the hallway ahead are six short,
If at any time in this encounter the appari- four-foot-tallhumanoids with large mis-
tion is confronted with a mirror, strongly pre- shapen heads and long, sinewy arms ending
sented, it will meet its own gaze and flee. in sharp claws. They appear to be arguing
Otherwise, the party must fight it. over what is in the next room. Occasionally,
you hear the angry voice of a woman shout
Apparition: Int Ave; AL CE; AC 0; MV 24; something (in common)at them, but you
HD 8;hp 45; #AT 1;THACO special; Dmg spe- can not make out her words.
cial: SA mental attack; SD silver or magical
weapons needed to hit; S Z M; XP 1,400.The If the PCs use the tongues spell from the
apparition remains noncorporeal until it at- scroll they will be able to understand and con-
tacks. It can attack one victim per round. The verse with the terithrans.
victim must make an Intelligence check at -4
or fall prey to the apparition’s suggestion that Terithrans (5):Int Ave; AL N; AC 6; MV 15;
he is being choked to death by the apparition. HD 5 + 1:hp 20 each; #AT 2: THACO 15; Dmg
Success means the victim is immune to this 2-5/2-5;SZ S (4’tall); S A special: SD silver or
particular apparition. Failure means that the magical weapons needed to hit: MR 50%;XP
victim must make an immediate Constitution 2,000. Inate Abilities: detect magic at will:
check. Success means the victim flees for 1-4 plus any combination of the following, up to
rounds. (A victim warded by a protection from six total uses per day: stunning blast (each
evil effect will automatically succeed, but note creature within 10’is affected as by a power
a paladin doesn’t have one here). Failure word, stun unless a successful save vs. spells
means the victim suffers a massive heart sei- is made), drain power (victim loses all memo-
zure and dies unless a remove fear is cast rized spells unless a successful save vs. breath
upon him immediately. A slain victim not weapon is made); cause serious wounds by
raised within the first 24 hours after death will touch (requires a normal attack roll, no save,
arise as an apparition in 2-8 hours. normal damage also applies).

After the apparition is dealt with, the player
characters move on.

73

PCs who communicate with the terithrans The Encounter: If Ansanther is with the par-
will find them suspicious and very defensive. ty, the magical items may talk before they are
The terithrans will not ally with the PCs. They destroyed. Both believe that they are the more
may, however, agree to allow the PCs to pass powerful object. If the holy avenger Ansanther
unmolested into the room. (The terithrans is used against the Face ofXenous, as soon as
want the object in the center of the maze, and the two are brought into contact, a tremen-
are not above using the PCs to take the brunt dous explosion destroys both of them. Xenous
of the next attack. If the PCs are successful at becomes an empty box and Ansanther is
defeating the “thing” in the center of the forced from the sword and sent to her final
maze, the terithrans might attack the PCs af- resting place. The magical sword itself is de-
ter they are weakened, if necessary to get the stroyed. Everyone within 40 feet of the blast
object they seek; they’re sure it’s in the box). rolls for special damage. (Thistable is de-
signed to inflict crippling damage and set up
The object in the room is a living artifact. (If the next adventure. If you are not going to run
the holy avenger Ansanther is with the party that adventure, reduce the effects accordingly.)
and she sees the Face OfXenous, she will at-
tempt to command her wielder to attack, if All that is left is for the PCs to find their way
possible). Xenous is not pleased with her back to the Prime Material plane and Oerth. If
present location. She would much prefer to be they collected the scroll from the dead cleric of
back on Oerth where she can cause pain, suf- Zagyg, and a priest is still alive they can plane
fering and loss of life. shifthome.

meP once a week.
umrn

ice. n

Xenous if she move herseli

Small fir W3-Ub
a major PO
09-12
13-16 lost in blas
17-20
blast *

74

Well ofAll house. Landis. . .some have suggested that

Terrain: Any he is an evil mage. Some say more enter his
total Party Levels: Any
Average Party Level: Any .house than leave. Could it be that someone
Adventure XP:
evil holds the key to your. . future? You
Full: Special
Partial: Special walk down a long hall, and then turn left into
Retreat: Special a dimly-lit room. Eight chairs form a semi-
circle in front of a great oak desk. Brigg
Set U p moves to the side of the desk and stands
beside a large draped object. All is quiet.
The Well of All Heals is an ancient and, some
believe, mythical place; a tale told to sick chil- Wait a few seconds to see what the player
dren to give them hope and to speed them to characters do. If they make any noise, Brigg
recovery. It is a place rumored to be guarded “Shhh’s” them. Wait until at least one PC is
by good, surrounded by evil, and protected by seated. Landis will then enter and beckon
a dragon. Many seek the healing powers of the everyone to be seated.
waters within, but few find its treasures. The
location of the Well changes each time it is After moments of uneasy silence, a hooded
found. figure in a dark blue robe with stars upon it
glides into the room and moves behind the
If one or more party members have ailments great desk. With a wave of his hand, the
otherwise beyond remedy, from damage, an draping comes away from the object to re-
incurable disease, a curse, or perhaps one or veal a mirror. But, instead of a reflection of
more reincarnated characters who want their yourselves, you see a peaceful valley. When
original form back. They will hear that this your gaze returns to the figure you now
fabled Well of All Heals might heal them. The know to be Landis, his hood has been
search has led to one Landis, a mage of the thrown back to reveal the features of a drow.
Free City of Greyhawk.
Landis Bree, male dark elf: Int Genius; AL
After spending many days and a lot of gold, N; AC 1;M12; hp 27; hp 27; #AT 1;THACO 17:
a voiceless rogue has brought you to a loca- Dmg special; SZ M; ML 15;XP 5,000;S 15,D
tion deep with the old part of the city. ’ b o 19,C 12, I 17, W 15, Ch 12. Items: bracers AC
great iron gates block your way. Before you 5. Spells: 4/4/4/4/4/1.
have time to wonder what’s beyond, the
right gate creaks open and a huge, cloaked Before entering the room, Landis has cast
man stands before you. protection from normal missiles and globe of
invulnerability He is wearing a robe of stars,
“I am Brigg, the gatekeeper. Please enter. and at the first sign of violence he will go “as-
tral,” take ten steps backward, and reappear in
Landis does not like to be kept waiting.” the adjoining room (which the PCs cannot
Behind you, the voiceless rogue disappears see).He will not reenter until Brigg assures
into the night. him that the PCs will behave.

Brigg: Int Genius; AL LG; AC 2; MV 12; F/M haven’t lived in the light for 20 years without
718; hp 87; #AT312 at +3;THACO 14;Dmg 1-8 learning what the fair-skinned races think of
+ 5; SZ M; ML 15;XP 3,000;S 18/90,D 14, C those from below. Regardless, you have
16,I 17, W 16,Ch 14. Spells: 4/4/3/2. Items: come to me for aid. tell me of your needs.”
cloak of protection +4, ring ofprotection +4.
Let the PCs tell of their woes, then continue.
As the last of you enters, the gates shut. You
walk through a short courtyard and through “Unfortunately, however, I cannot help you
the open front door of a large but squarish
- directly. There is a place. As young ones

potion Flasks

I’m sure you were told stories; fantastic The Mad Druid

tales . . .of magical places. You may have you proceed down the path, the sound of
flutes, singing, and dancing can be heard
even been told of the Well ofAll Heals. Now, around the bend ahead of you. You ap-
don’t go rolling your eyes! I, too, did not proach, vision obscured by high bushes.
believe in its existence.
Behind the bushes is the mad druid Arahaz
“At least, not until recently. You see, I was and eight norkers singing and dancing. Ara-
observing an area a few days ago. I left my haz is quite mad and has charmed the human-
study to retrieve a book, and when I re- oids into a May Day dance (even though it is
turned, the mirror showed the wooded val-
ley you see before you. I am sure that the not May, he will insist that it is).two draw-
mirror shows the same place as before, but
now there is a valley there - and my string net traps are set to either side of the
powers are stopped the moment I try to pen- path. Anyone approaching off the path will fall
etrate the trees. If you remember the tale, it into a pit trap and be ensnared in a net, taking
is said that only those in need of the Well no damage. Arahaz will be highly amused.
may find it. Now, here is the offer: You use
my mirror to enter the area you see. If you Arahaz came to seek the well many years
fail, take comfort in knowing that you will ago. He has long forgotten this, and is truly
no longer be a burden or embarrassment to mad, beyond help.
those around you.
A small fire has been built in the middle of
“All I want is for you to return and tell me the path. Dancing around it are an old man
all that you discovered in the mysterious and what appear to be eight children. They
valley. The choice is yours (pause).You have are all covered, head-to-toe, in mud and
leaves. No, wait a minute - those aren’t
a minute to decide. Take your time . . .” children! They’re strange-looking goblin-
like creatures, with big fangs!
If the player characters accept, Brigg will
motion them to the front of the mirror, saying: I f the PCs Attack: The Mad Arahaz will cast
spells and six of the norkers will pick up clubs
He hands whoever is first at the mirror a and attack. The other two will keep playing
wooden box. If someone asks him what is in flutes and dancing.
the box, he will merely shrug and motion for
them to pass. He will not-allow them to open Mad Arahaz’s spell sequence:
the box while still within the room. Round 1:Hallucinatory forest. He likes trees.
No save.
The box contains four marked potion bot- Round 2: Faerie fire. Everyone in pretty colors.
tles: stone giant strength; oil ofslipperiness; Round 3: Arahaz the Mad laughs and starts
fireresistance; water breathing. dancing again. This is all a game to him.

Stepping through the mirror, you find your- Arahaz the Mad: Int Non; AL N; AC 10;
selves on a large, flat rock outcropping that Drl 1;hp 45; THACO 14; #ATSpecial; Dmg
overlooks the valley. Wisps of smoke can be Special; S Z M; ML special; XP 3,000;S 7, D 15,
seen rising from somewhere in the valley. C 8, I 10,W 13,Ch 12 (5);Spells: 6/5/5/3/2/-.
What might be a narrow path into the valley
descends to the right. Norkers: Int Ave; AL CE; AC 3; MV 9; HD
1+2; hp 8,8,8,6,5,5(w/flutes9,3);#AT 1;
The mix of trees is usual for this area; old THACO 19;Dmg 1-6;SZ S;ML 11;XP 35.
gnarled oaks and a smattering of pines. It is a
beautiful day. If the PCs Parlay: Arahaz will ask them to
join in the May Day dance. If they say no, he
will attempt to charm one of the PCs to join in.
If he is successful, the charmed PC joins them,
dancing and forgetting about the remaining

PCs for awhile. If captured or coerced, Arahaz Nesfar (humanform, gold dragon): Int Ge-

. .the Mad will talk, especially when someone nius; AL LG; AC -4;HD 18;hp 85;#AT l (3+

mentions the Well. special);Dmg ld3 (1-10/1-10/6-3T6H)A;CO 3;
Age adult: SZ M (G 59’);S A Breath weapon.
“You want to find the Well? Ha! Well, you’ve Innate spells: featherfall, read magic, ESl?
invisibility,haste, phantasmal force, minor
come to the right place . . .” globe ofinvulnerability,charm monster.

.His mind drifts off, and when reminded . . Nesfar will lead them to a cave entrance,
masked by illusion. He will speak the following
“Huh? Oh, yes . . . the Well! Just follow this and depart:

here stream until you get to the home of the lenge you face is within. Forsake power,
Swandragon. Yep, that’s the way!” wealth, and personal gain. From here, you
are all or none. I may aid or hinder you no
The PCs will get no more information. Once
the PCs leave along the stream, he will begin The entrance is a cleft in a rock wall. Inside
to dance again with the norkers, whether they is ankle-deep in water. A shallow stream runs
are all dead or not. along the floor. The PCs follow the stream to a
cavern.
I f A n y PCs are Killed: Arahaz the Mad will
“fix ’em up real good” with a reincarnate Through The Wall
scroll. At least they will be alive. When the
PCs follow the stream, they wind up at a glen. As your eyes slowly adjust to the dim illu-
mination, fluorescent lichen cast an eerie
The Glen light. Water is knee deep in the cavern and
covered by a light algae. The cavern is ap-
As you approach a small glen you see two proximately 100’across and half that dis-
figures standing and talking. One is a grace- tance wide. There is a large pile of boulders
ful and attractive woman dressed in leather
with a rapier at her hip. The other is a hand- I on the far side of the cavern.
some man, tanned and wearing bracers and
leather breeches (no shirt or shoes). The ~
woman turns and addresses you: “Who en-
ters the home of Nesfar?” An illusory wall covers the stairs in the ten-
ter of the back wall.
Although her manner is firm and insistent,
it is not threatening. She would know: a)Who A Choice of Doors
the PCs are, b) how they got here, and c) what
are they doing here. The stairs descend 20’and a hallway runs
for 170’into a room. The room is 30’X 20’
Seeara and Nesfar have lived in the valley and contains a single brazier in which a low
for years, and often take human form. The fire burns. Across the room from the entry
PCs must convince Seeara and Nesfar of their are three doors. Otherwise, the room is fea-
sincerity or the NPCs will not help. If con- tureless.
vinced, Seeara will ask them, “If the Well is
here what right do you have to its alleged heal- The edges of all of the doors are sealed
ing powers?” This is the players’ chance to completely with wax. Carved into the wax is
role-play, tell of their characters’ exploits, and script. In the center of each door is a crude
in general make a case for themselves. drawing. The drawing on the left door is
horizonal wavy lines, center door is marked
Seeara (human form, swanmay): Int Ge- with a crude “X”, and the drawing on the
nius; AL NG; AC 7;MV 15;HD 7;hp 41;#AT l; right has been defaced.

THACO 14:Dmg 1-8;SD + 1 weapon or better

to hit, change into a swan at will, in human

form fights 5s a ranger; MR 14%;SZ M; ML 15;

XP 650.

The script is clerical. Any cleric can read in, I am a ghost but I will not harm you!
Beware the undead creature, it has been
these runes: thieves have a penalty of -25% acting a little erratically as of late.”

to their read language ability. The writing in Then the undead creature turns and
the wax explains what is behind each door. pleads, “Help me kill her, she killed our en-

Left door script: tire party! . . .” Looking around you notice a

“A river lies beyond this door. If ye seek silver circle etched into the floor, encom-
water as a source of life ye will find death.” passing the entire room. Bones and decom-
posing bodies are piled in a corner. Directly
Center door script: across the room is a door.

“Undead guard the way - old shall ye be if The room contains a ghost and a revenant.
The ghost killed the adventurer, whose reve-
she looks on thee.” nant now exists with the sole purpose to kill
the ghost (which it can’t harm!).
Right door script:
The revenant will attempt to convince the
“Horror! Deadly mists! All died quickly. Hor- party to help it kill the ghost in order to find
ror, such horror.” eternal rest. The revenant’s party attacked the
ghost and paid the ultimate price.
The Left Door
The door is damp to the touch and leads to If questioned, the ghost will say that it
guards the way to the Well of All Heals (the
what was an underground river; a change in first time the PCs know that they are in the
the flow flooded the cavern behind the door. right place).What the ghost will not say is that
The swollen door and wax sealing are all that it is there to keep the creature in the next
have kept this place from flooding. room from escaping. The ghost will only fight
if attacked.
If opened, a tremendous (6d6)rush of water
will pour into the room. The room will fill to The PCs can cross this room in complete
waist level immediately and the water will safety by ignoring both undead.
continue rising at a rate of 1‘per turn, until
the room is filled (8turns). Closing the door Ghost: Int High; AL LE: AC 0 (8)M;V 9: HD
and wedging it shut will stabilize the water 10;hp 61: #AT 1;THACO 11;Dmg age 10-40;
level, and the water will eventually drain SA On sight save vs. spell or age 10 years and
away. flee in panic 2d6 turns, magic jar within 60’,
touch ages victim l d 4 X 10years: SD Magic or
If the PCs force their way through the door silver weapons needed to hit; SZ M: XP 7,000.
against the current, they find a wet
10‘x 10’X 40’ rough-hewn cavern. Water gush- Revenant: Int Ave; AL N; AC 10;MV 9; HD
es from the left cave wall (theunderground 8; hp 27; #AT 1;THACO 13: Dmg 2-16; S A
river). Normally, the water flows out through Strangulation 2d8, save vs. spell or paralyzes
another natural opening in the right cave wall. victim 2d4 rounds with gaze; SD regeneration
Both watery openings extend several miles 3 hp/round except fire damage, destroyed only
underground, nothing more. if completely burned and reduced to ash; SZ
M; ML special: XP 4,000.
The Center Door
This is the way to the Well.When the wax is The Right Door
This sealed room contains a crimson death.
removed and the door is opened a dark
20’X 20‘X 10’room is revealed. The starving creature immediately attacks.
Crimson Death: Int Genius: AL NE; AC 0 (4
Upon opening the middle door, you see a
rotting, skeletal creature attacking some- after feeding);MV F1 12 (B),(6after feeding);HD
thing invisible in the room. A disembodied 13: hp 42; #AT 1;THACO 7: Dmg 3d10 (fluid
female voice says “Please, won’t you come drain): SA -4 initiative bonus (normalafter

feeding);SD +2 or better weapons to hit ( + 1

after feeding):MR 95%;S Z M; ML 15;XP
10,000.

Assuming the party finds the correct way, they of each subject. It then uses thoughtprojec-
will enter a darkened room. tion to create the deepest, darkest fears of its
subject. If “killed” by this fear, the victim does
Pedestal Room not die but merely falls unconscious. After-
This 40‘X 40’X 40’ room is featureless ex- wards, the victim is forever immune to that
Darksider’s attack.
cept for a low, circular pedestal, 20’in diame-
ter about 4” high. When a character stands on Most deaths that are attributed to Darksider
the pedestal, it begins to rise, and a black appearances have been caused by adventurers
opening appears in the ceiling above it. attempting to slay it, and actually slaying oth-
er party members. Deaths have also occurred
The other PCs need to react quickly, as the through attempts to flee the illusion. Other-
pedestal will rise with or without them. If they wise, a Darksider is incapable of giving or re-
miss, the pedestal will reset in one turn. ceiving physical damage.

As the platform on which you stand rises After all is resolved, the PCs awake, and the
you pass into the impenetrable darkness. platform begins to rise again.
The platform stops moving at what you
think is floor level, and a monstrous, glow- Well of All Heals

.ing shape glides towards you . . As the pedestal clears the floor of the room

The glowing figure is a new monster, the above you, you see . . .an enormous gold
Darksider (see description).
dragon lying atop a huge pile of gold coins
you hear, “I am your dark side. I know your and precious gems. He watches you for a
darkest fears and doubts! And, I wish them
to be, so defeat me or die!” It raises its moment, and then says, . . .
hands and a wave of terror washes over you.
“Well?”
The PCs can now react, but actions other
than disbelief will do them little good. Any The PCs need to explain why they are there
attacks by their “vision” will seem real. and what they seek. The dragon will ask them
why they think they are worth receiving the
In the thought projection attack that follows, healing powers of the Well.After hearing their
each character must react individually to his answers, he will comment as much to himself
fear. Remember that the PCs have not moved, as to the PCs, “For all your tests to go unre-
although they may seem to be removed from warded would be wrong!” and he moves aside
the rest of the group, so watch for area-effect to reveal a golden door in the wall behind him.
spells or any combat.
nate spouts that shoot a splendid aqua-
The only way to fight the Darksider is to colored water that catches the light in a
demonstrate an act of disbelief or become un- thousand rainbow hues. A beautiful swan
conscious. Otherwise run the combat normally. floats upon the water.

Darksider (1):Int Genius: AL NE; AC n/a; Upon their entrance into the room, the swan
MV instantaneous; HD n/a; hp n/a: #AT 1; beckons them to come swim with her. Total
THACO hits automatically: Dmg as victim X 2 immersion for one round begins the healing
(apparent damage): S A ESp, thought projec- process. After one turn the healing is complete
tion (no save):SD immune to most attacks. and the PCs are back to normal. Nesfar (forso
it is)enters the room at this time and the swan
The Darksider swims to greet him, transforming into human
The Darksider is an energy being from the form at the water’s edge. The PCs recognize
Seeara.
Negative Material plane, that feeds on anxiety
and fear. The Darksider appears as a ghost-like Nesfar and Seeara explain that it is neces-
form of each of its “victims.” Using ESp, the sary to test those who seek the Well.Its
Darksider determines the single greatest fear

80

powers are strong, as even the dead can be tion on Oerth, where the swan and the dragon
brought back to life (even those who have been wait for others who may also come in search of
reincarnated return to their original form). The the Well of All Heals.
PCs are not told that the side effect of the mag-
ic is total amnesia of the past 24 hours (the Aftermath
time taken by their quest).
Surviving characters should receive an ex-
The healing and soothing powers of the Well perience point award for each encounter they
lull the PCs to sleep at its edge. Nesfar and had along the way. Suggested totals are 200 to
Seeara will take them back to the rock out- 1,000experience points each per encounter,
cropping overlooking the valley where they depending on ingenuity and cleverness shown
began their quest, leaving them to awaken by the players. Those healed by the Well
and puzzle over their "dreams". The Valley of receive a bonus 1,000XP.
the Well then moves randomly to another loca-

The Wizard Isn’t Home A. The Room of Seven Doors

Terrain: Mountains The party discovers a small cave that is sup-
Total Party Levels: 40 posed to lead to the hideout of Ramael. At the
Average Party Level: 6th back of the cave a large boulder blocks the
Adventure XP: way. Moving this boulder requires a combined
strength of 35, and only three characters can
Full: 13,320 fit to make the attempt. Once the boulder is
Partial: 9,990 moved, a five foot wide tunnel is revealed,
Retreat: 3,330 winding down into the darkness. The tunnel is
not steep, but it is dark and damp. After fol-
This adventure is designed for a party of six lowing the tunnel for about 500‘,and descend-
to eight adventurers of levels five through sev- ing about 50’,the party comes to a large
en. A character who can read the elvish lan- brass-bound door.
guage, or who can cast a comprehend
languages, is required. A balanced party, as The brass is green with age, and the wood of
always, will have the best chance of success. the door is very dry. The door is locked, and
the lock is rusted shut. There is a penalty of
Set U p - 10%to any lockpicking attempts. The lock
can be shattered by a blow from a blunt weap-
* An old wizard wants to hire a group of ad- on doing at least 5 points of damage, however.

venturers to recover some treasure for him. He Opening the door, the party sees a room lit
isjust too busy to go fetch it himself, he says. with a blue glow. There are seven more doors
He will provide the party with a map to get in the room, and each of them has elvish
them to the lair, and warns them that the lair writing on it. The writing glows with a faint
is probably guarded by several dangerous blue glow, and the glow is matched by that of
traps and guardians. He wants them to find a writing on the floor. The room is dust free and
large black pearl and return it to him. The empty. The writing on the floor reads, in
party may keep any other treasure they find. elvish:

* The party has heard of a magnificent jewel “One true way be there only, so be it with
the writings of Moonglow.” It is signed with
called the E y e of the N y r Dyv.I t is rumored to the elvish rune for ‘M’.
have been in the possession of a wizard named
Ramael the Reader. Ramael disappeared years The seven doors bear elvish writing and a
ago, and the ‘Eye’has never been found. The number. The doors are listed in order from the
party has some indication, either through a left around the room.
map or old book, of where Ramael’s hideaway
may be found, on the banks of the Nyr Dyv. 1. “Door #1is true and door #2 is true.”
Introduce this information into play several 2. “Certain death lies beyond all the doors.”
sessions before the adventure is to be played. 3. “Door #4is true, or door #2 is true.”
4.“No harm lies beyond any of these doors.”
DM Background 5. “An elf may pass freely through this

The party must travel to the southern shore door.”
of the Nyr Dyv, only a few days from the city 6. “Door #7 is true.”
of Greyhawk. A small cave leads to what was 7. “Door #6is true.”
once the hideout of Ramael the Reader. He was
a wizard of great renown, whose name is Explanation of the Doors: The challenge for
mostly lost to time. The lair has five rooms the players is to find the door with the true
and three guardianskraps. The traps were inscription, which leads to Ramael’s hideaway.
deadly, but have faded somewhat with time (it
has been over two hundred years since Ra- Since only one door is true, simple logic can
mael used his hideout). be used to figure out the true saying, and the
correct door. A sample of the logic used might
run as follows: Door # 1 is a false statement,

82

since two doors can not be true. Door #2is -cult: a Dexterity check with a 5 penalty is
false because of the statement of door # 1,and
because certain death does not lie beyond all required unless the characters devise a way to
of the doors. Door #3says ‘or’,so if either deal with the slope.
statement is true, the whole thing is true. If
door #4 is true, then door #3is also true, there- After 50’of a steep, slippery slope, the tun-
fore, doors #3and #4 are both false. Doors #6 nel again levels out. It continues for about
and #7 are mutually exclusive. If one is true,
both are, so both are false. By process of elimi- loo’,twisting and turning. It finally ends in an
nation, door #5 must be true. (Notethat just
because it says an elf may pass freely through old wooden door, bound with tarnished brass.
this door does not forbid others to pass freely There is a rusted padlock on the door. The
also.) padlock can not be picked, and if a thief makes

When players think they have figured out a find traps roll at a - lo%,he can tell that the
the door, and are ready to have their charac-
ters open it, find out which character is touch- lock was damaged, and the padlock just won’t
ing which door. If any door but #5 is touched, open. It must be smashed open (this requires
the character touching it takes 2d6 points of 15points of damage to AC 4). Once the pad-
electrical damage. The shock used to be much lock is broken, the door can be forced open
more powerful, but the magic has lost some of with a normal open doors roll. A knock spell
its power in the last 200 years. A simple push will also work.
on door #5 causes it to swing open, revealing a
narrow hallway penetrating deeper into the C. Ramael’s Sitting Room
darkness.
The door opens to reveal a small apartment.
B. Underwater tunnel There are continual light globes all around,
although the light has faded just a bit with
The tunnel leads further down into the dark- time. Only those who can cast a continual
ness. After about 150‘,the slope gets much light spell realize that the light has faded at all,
steeper. There are moss and lichen growing since the lights have dimmed only a very little
down here, and the characters may slip. Any- bit. The party is in what was once a sitting
one who does not state that they are stepping room. There are bookshelves of rotted books,
carefully and watching where they place their ramshackle furniture, and two exits from the
feet must roll less than their Dexterity on a room. Also present is the main guardian of the
D20 or slip and slide. Slipping characters slide lair, a scarecrow.
down the tunnel for another 30’,where they
hit the water with a loud splash. The scarecrow is actually an attacker sent
by a powerful priestess who was an enemy of
The tunnel dips under the water here, and Ramael’s. Her command was to “kill anyone
then rises after 30’.The tunnel dips very in Ramael’s dwelling.” This command has
steeply; the middle 20‘ section of the tunnel is kept the scarecrow here, waiting to kill any
completely submerged. The water is still and who enters the living quarters.
scummy. The characters may choose to walk
or swim through, since anyone should be able Scarecrow (1):Int Non; AL CE; AC 6: MV 6;
to hold their breath long enough to make it
20’. Of course the party has no way of know- HD 5; hp 34; THACO 15;#AT 1 + gaze; Dmg
ing that the tunnel rises again, and may even ld6 + charm: S A gaze attack, save vs. spell or
assume that they selected the wrong door in
the last room. Do nothing to discourage this. If charmed: SD immune to cold, sleep, charm,
someone is brave enough to check it out, they
find that the tunnel slopes even more steeply hold, or suggestion, + 1dmg from fire-based
upward on the opposite side.
attacks; SZ M; ML 13;XP 1,400.
Furthermore, a lot of slippery lichen on the The scarecrow attacks one character at a
other side makes climbing up the slope diffi-
time, striking the first character it charmed
until that character is dead. While slaying its
first victim, the scarecrow uses its gaze attack
to charm as many other opponents as it can.
The scarecrow attacks until it is destroyed. Its
charm is one of fascination, rather than obedi-
ence. This means that the victim just stands
still and takes no actions while under the
scarecrow’s influence.

83

D. Ramael’s Dwelling Treasure Room: This room contains what
treasure Ramael left behind. There are three
After defeating the scarecrow, the party has chests and a workbench in this room. A set of
time to look around. The bookshelves contain six potion bottles rest on the bench, all clearly
books on many subjects, including history of labeled. Three of them are labelled healing,
the surrounding lands (excluding events of the two are speed, and the last is fire-breath.All
last 200 years), flora and fauna of Oerth, go- but the fire-breathpotion are rancid and bitter.
lem creation, and a wide variety of other sub- Drinking any of the rancid potions, in addition
jects. Unfortunately, time and dampness have to the normal effect, requires the imbiber to
ruined almost all of the books. make a saving throw vs. poison or become
very nauseous for 2d6 hours.
Someone searching for at least an hour can
find two books that are still mostly intact. One ?tyo of the chests are unlocked and empty.
is a notebook about creation of golems. The The third has a fire trap cast on the lock. Any-
methods it gives are entirely wrong, and if one who touches this lock takes 8d4 points of
followed require the mage to spend over fire damage, with no saving throw allowed.
10,000gp, with no chance of success. The Anyone within five feet of the lock is allowed a
other book gives a complete description of the saving throw vs. spell for half damage. Inside
various types of dragons, some of their more the chest are 1,500gp, 20 1pp, a scroll of wiz-
well-known powers, and the few weaknesses ard spells (dispelmagic and spectral hand,
they do have. The two other exits in this room enchanted at 16th level),a wand oflightning
lead to Ramael’s study and kitchen, respec- with 12 charges remaining (verybrittle due to
tively.
age, - 4 on any save vs. crushing blow),a ring
Kitchen: The kitchen was obviously magi- ofprotection + 1 , and a very large black pearl.
cally powered, as there is no storage space and
no stove. There is some old food on plates, The pearl is, of course, the Eye of the N y r
almost all turned to dust. Nothing of value can Dyv, and is worth over 25,000 gp.
be found here.
Aftermath
Study: The study has an old rotted sofa, an
armchair, and many bookshelves. All of the The pearl is worth much more than the rest
books in this room are ruined. The only thing of the treasure combined. If the party was
of value to be found here is a knife + 1,lodged working for the wizard and decides to get
in a secret compartment in one of the arms of greedy, the wizard who commissioned them
the armchair. This secret compartment is very will eventually find out and come after them.
easily found, since the covering of the arm- The wizard will be very angry, and he will try
chair falls away if touched, revealing the loca- to force the party to hand over the pearl. The
tion of the compartment. The study also wizard should be at least 12th level, and may
contains the entrance to Ramael’sbedroom be more powerful if that is what it takes to
and a secret door to the treasure room. seriously challenge the party.

Secret Door: If the bookshelves in the study If the party has not been commissioned by
are searched by a character specifically look- the wizard, they might have trouble disposing
ing for a secret door (or for something behind of the pearl. Very few buyers have the full val-
the bookshelves) the chance of finding the ue of such a valuable gem in cash, so the party
door is 3 in 6 for non-elves, 4 in 6 for elves or may have to make long trips to interesting
half-elves. If the bookshelves are just searched, places. Also, thieves will almost certainly hear
the chances to find the secret door to the trea- of such a valuable item. Recovering the pearl
sure room are normal. can be a springboard to a whole series of
adventures.
Bedroom: The bedroom has a rotted four-
poster bed, and a termite-eaten chest of
drawers. The drawers contain rotted clothing.
Again, nothing of value can be found here.

84

All for a Hat pled hat of a brown and green tartan pattern,
with the Cuthbert starburst symbol of beaten
Terrain: Ruins copper pinned to it. Since this is what all the
Total Party Levels: 80 priests of the Order of the Chapeaux wear, it
Average Party Level: 11th isn’t much help. Bidrow assures them that the
Adventure XP: relic must still be on the altar, and offers direc-
tions to the ruined temple. If the party is only
Full: 73,600 moderately powerful, or perhaps not as well
Partial: 55,200 balanced as Bidrow thinks it should be, he
Retreat: 18,400 might offer them a guide.

Set U p Saranee of the Chapeaux:Int High; AL
LN; AC 2; MV 9; ClO; hp 60; #AT 1; THACO
The temple of St. Cuthbert is looking for a
powerful party to recover a lost relic, a trea- 12;Dmg 1-6+3/1-6 +2 (staff +2); SA shillelagh
sure of their faith. The party may become in-
volved by answering a posted notice: they may (Uday);SZ M; ML 15; XP 4,000;S 14, D 12, C
be fairly well-known and summoned by the 15,I 13,W 17, Ch 14. Saranee wears chain
high priest. mail +3,and carries a quarterstaff +2.She
wears a ring of fireresistance, and a brooch of
If they recently returned from an adventure shielding (27 charges remaining). Her prefer-
after which they required powerful healing
spells, this quest can be considered as pay- red spell list is as follows: cure light wounds
ment for the help they received.
( X 3),command, detect magic, remove fear,
The Interview aid, find traps, hold person ( X 2), slow poison,
The party is summoned to, the local temple, spiritual hammer, create food and water, cure
disease, dispel magic, prayer, cure serious
and is conducted into the presence of Bidrow, wounds, free action, neutralize poison, cure
Grand High Priest of the Order of the Cha- critical wounds, true seeing.
peaux. He is a handsome man, a bit portly,
with graying hair at the temples. He greets the Saranee might be run by the players or the
party, and asks them to introduce themselves, DM. If the DM plays her, remember that she
and recount a few of their more difficult ex- does not know any more than the characters
ploits. (Bidrowhas previously cast a detect lie, about what’s going on. She knows how to get
and is secretlyjudging the PCs.) to the ruins, but has no idea what is inside.

He asks leading questions, trying to deter- Saranee wants very badly to recover the
mine just how powerful and competent they Chapeaux ofHerkluth, and will tolerate no
really are. He also wants to know about the straying from that path. As long as the party
magical items owned by the party. He does not pursues that course, she is content to follow
press them to reveal anything they might not the PCs’ lead.
want to reveal, but he is interested in obtain-
ing the services of a powerful party. Bidrow is willing to promise that any charac-
ters hurt or slain on the mission will be healed,
The temple is searching for a great relic of or even raised. He also offers 2,000 gp and a
the faith, the original chapeaux worn by potion of extra-healing,each. He wants no
Herkluth, a priest who originally spread the looting of the ancient temple, but realizes that
word of St. Cuthbert to the Duchy of Urnst. It if monsters inhabit it, they may have treasure.
lies on an altar, in the ruins of a temple where He requests that the effects of the parties of
Herkluth was buried. the priests who met their doom in the ruins be
returned, if found. He will give the PCs the
The location of the temple is known, but potions immediately, as a sign of good faith,
some evil lurks within. ’Avoparties of priests and because they may need them.
and warriors sent to retrieve the relic have not
returned, and the temple must have it soon. The Ruins

Bidrow will not reveal anything about the Zomitil is a large beholder who inhabits the
chapeaux, save for a description: it is a crum- ruins of the temple of St. Cuthbert. He has
penetrated the inner sanctum and is deter-

mined to strip the temple completely. He has hard to find a way in. Much of the debris
acquired several slaves, victims of his charm seems to be picked over, and some of the larg-
monster eye. He learned of the temple from er rubble has been moved.
the first party sent. They encountered the be-
holder, and he succeeded in charming one of Near the back of the ruins is a stairway to
them, while destroying the rest. The survivor the level below. It is relatively clean. Looking
led him to the temple, died there. successfully tracks reveals large, ogre-sized
footprints and an odd three-toed print. The
Zomitil's anti-magiceye allowed him to pass stairs are both high and narrow; movement
the magical wards protecting the temple, and down them must be in single file. Thirty stairs
he has been looting it for the past few months. lead down. At their base is the first line of the
He has managed to charm five ogres in the beholder's guards.
ruins, and has put them to work clearing rub-
ble. Further, he has collected five hook horrors 1. First Guards
and three ropers. These are of little use in col- ?tyo hook horrors stand guard along each
lecting treasure, so he has put them to work as
guards. He is systematically looting the tem- wall on either side of the stairs. They wait un-
ple, and will use the treasure to further some til at least the first two characters have en-
nefarious plan of his own. tered the room before attacking. They try to
keep the party bottled up on the stairs. They
The Entrance also let out a loud clicking, which alerts the
The temple of St. Cuthbert fell into ruins last hook horror, skulking in the next room. It
rings a gong, rousing the ogres, the ropers,
over 300 years ago, and Herkluth himself was and the beholder. Then it joins the melee, en-
buried here over 500 years ago, on a level be- tering at the beginning of the third round.
low the actual temple. The temple itself is in
ruins, with crumbled walls and the roof fallen Hook Horrors ( 5 ) :Int Low; AL N; AC 3;MV
in. The party does not have to search very 9; HD 5; hp 36,30,28,28,24;#AT 3; THACO
15;Dmg 1-8/1-8/2-12.S A if both h o o k hit,

86

bite hit automatically until one of the hooks is 5 Flesh to stone ray (30yard range)
dislodged; SD surprised only on a 1,blindness 6 Disintegrateray (20yard range)
penalties only if silenced SZ L; ML 12;XP 175. 7 ESP (30yard range)
8
Second Guards Slow
If the horrors are defeated, or someone gets 9
10 Causeserious wounds (50yard range)
past them into the main room, the ropers, Central Death ray (40yard range)
which have been masquerading as piles of dirt Anti-magicray ( 140yard range)
amidst the rubble, rear up and attack. eye

After five rounds, the ogres arrive from The anti-magicray covers a 90 degree arc.
deeper in the temple. All magic within the area ceases to function;
spells cast in it, or that pass through it, simply
After eight rounds, the beholder himself
appears, behind the party. fail.

Ropers (3):Int Exceptional; AL CE; AC 0; Each eyestalk can withstand 1 0 points of
damage before being destroyed, the central
MV 3; HD 10;hp 56,54,35; #AT 1strand + 1
eye can withstand 2 1points before ceasing to
bite; THACO 11;Dmg special/5-20;S A function, and the body is killed upon taking 43
strength drain; SD half damage from cold, points of damage.
immune to lightning, save at -4 versus fire;
MR 80%;SZ L; ML 15;XP 7,000. Zomitil is in a different part of the ruin when
he hears the alarm. He will come down the
A roper shoots a sticky strand ld4 + 1x 10
stairway, behind the party. Because the stairs
feet, one strand per round. An opponent hit by are steep, his anti-magicray will only affect
a strand must save vs. poison or lose 50% of its the last three characters in line, although any
strength in l d 3 rounds. This strength loss lasts
2d4 turns. Snared victims are drawn into the spells cast in his direction will be subject to
center maw at the rate of 10' per round. Crea- the effects of the ray.
tures drawn into the maw, are automatically
bitten each round for 5d4 points of damage. Zomitil is aggressive, and will attack nearly
Breaking a strand requires an open doors roll, everyone. In the narrow stairway, only the
or 6 points of damage from an edged weapon.
front 1-4eyestalks can bear on the party (plus
After five rounds: the central eye). The DM should roll at the
Ogres ( 5 ) :Int Low; AL CE; AC 5; MV 9; HD
beginning of the encounter to find which eyes
4 + 1;hp 24, 19, 19,18, 14; #AT 1;THACO 17; can bear, then roll at the beginning of each
Dmg 1-6+2(club);S Z L; ML 12; XP 175. round for how many of those four small eyes

After eight rounds: actually attack in the round. The beholder is
Zomitil, beholder: Int Exceptional; AL LE;
intelligent, and is quite capable of turning its
AC 0/2/7;MV FL 3 (B);HD 14; hp 64; #AT 1; side or back to a character in order to bring
THACO 7; Dmg 2-8; S A magic; SD anti-magic the death ray or the stone to flesh ray to bear.
ray; MR special; SZ M; MR 18;XP 14,000.
Zomitil has the following eye powers. Several The beholder is no fool. It will retreat if faced
of these are different from a normal beholders with a stronger adversary, but the PCs will have
(thiswill surprise PCs familiar with standard to show that they are stronger. It flees immedi-
beholders). Zomitil is considered a mutant by
other beholders, a fact he is bitter about. ately if its central eye is destroyed, although it
will use its rear eyes on the PCs as it goes.
Summary of beholder eye powers:
The Lower Level
Eye Power
1 Burning eye (burninghands, dmg 1-3+ 14,14' Once the battle is over, the party can explore
range) the rest of the complex. The main guard room
2 Charm Monster has three openings.
3 Sleep
4 Blekineses (250pounds) Room 2: The hook horrors stayed here, in
what was once a storage room. It now contains
nothing but garbage, pulled together into
crude nests.

Room 3: This room was the ogres' lair; a bit
more organized, but generally devoid of any-
thing useful. l k o of the crude pallets here em-

87

ploy what used to be very expensive silk hang- globe of invulnerability;a ring ofprotection
ings as blankets. +2;and a quiver with 20 arrows + 1.

Room 4:This burial room has most of its 6. The Right Door: This storage room has
ornately scrolled niches occupied by former
clerics of St. Cuthbert. If Saranee is along, she been looted by Zomitil. The old books, altar
will permit no looting here. Such looting here furnishings, clerical vestments, and the like
might have possible alignment effects, espe- remaining here are all a bit rotted, and have
cially if the PCs have sworn an oath against been roughly handled by the ogres besides.
looting the temple. A party that searches these
tombs will find three suits of fine chain mail, a 7. The Center Door: The last door has a
magical shield +2, and three rusted maces. powerful magical ward upon it. Only those of
The last coffin on the left contains the remains good alignment can enter here. Zomitil’s anti-
of Herkluth, now little more than dust. magic ray was able to negate it, but unless the
characters can dispel the ward (adispel magic
There is no sign of the chapeaux the PCs spell will work), only good-aligned characters
were sent to recover. Searching the room does can enter this room.
allow the standard chance to find the secret
door. If Saranee is present, she has a pretty The chapel inside is a mess. The altar has
good idea that there must be an entrance to a been partially disintegrated; the walls have
hidden sanctuary somewhere around here. had chunks dug out of them. Rubble lies all
The trigger to open the secret door is hidden in over the room. No hat is in sight.
the designs around Herkluth’s burial niche.
Someone specifically checking that area has a Anyone poking around the altar will set off a
3 in 6 chance of finding it (5in 6 for elves or glyph of warding, which causes anyone within
half-elves). a five-foot radius to save or take 10d4 points of
electrical damage (save vs. spell for half dam-
5-7. The Hidden Area age).When the beholder looted the altar, his
The secret door opens to reveal a narrow anti-magicray prevented glyph from trigger-
ing at that time.
hallway. There is a door to both the left and
right, and one at the end of the hall. If the PCs make a determined search (three
hours with one PC, less if more PCs search),
5. The Left Door: This conceals a small they will find a tattered bit of cloth with a cop-
room that Zomitil was using for treasure stor- per starburst. This is all that remains of the
age. It contains treasure recently looted from Chapeaux of Herkluth. Nothing else of value
the temple (Zomitilwas planning on shipping can be found in this room.
it out via the ogres in a week or two). In a fairly
haphazard pile, the characters can find the Aftermath
following items: a set of 12 tarnished silver
mugs, with the faint outline of the starburst Those returning this bit of cloth are very
symbol; a platinum goblet with a sheaf of well received. Bidrow is not concerned that
wheat inscribed on the side; three reliquaries only a piece of the hat was recoverable, it will
(religious items) made of platinum, inset with dojust fine for his purposes. He does not re-
emeralds and rubies; a gold holy water font; veal these purposes to the characters, even if
and a large silver mirror with crumpled hats asked. (If one of the characters is a high rank-
carved into its bronzewood frame. These items ing cleric of St. Cuthbert, that character may
belong to the order, and the temple will expect be taken aside and told that it is for use in a
to get them back (totalvalue: 12,400 gp). very important ceremony involving the conse-
cration of holy ground. The character is in-
Also to be found here are 350 loose pp, a vited to the ceremony, and sworn to secrecy.)
sack with 120 sp and a small amethyst worth
The characters have made a valuable friend
55 gP. in the high priest. If desired by the DM, Bidrow
Hidden behind a false stone in the wall is a can be available for healing later. The PCs
might also be called on for other missions,
cache of magical items: three potions, flying, now that they have proved themselves capable
extra-healing,and elixir of health;a mage of handling any challenge.
scroll with stone to flesh,flesh to stone and

88

A Sword for a Hero Finding the Lair

Terrain: Mountains Adventurers have been searching for the lair
Total Party Levels: 140 for a long time. The PCs have several choices.
Average Party Level: 18th With characters of their level, some of the
Adventure XP: higher level divination spells should be availa-
ble to them. Only find the path and contact
Full: 230,000 other planes can locate the dragon’s lair. A
Partial: 172,500 wish would provide them with nearly exact
Retreat: 57,500 directions, while a limited wish would give
them general directions. No divination spell
Set U p will provide any more information than the
location of the entrance to the dragon’s lair, for
* Legends tell of a great red wyrm that in- the dragon has magically hidden its lair
against all divination magic. The dragon used
habits the Crystalmist mountains to the west. a wish, so it would require two properly word-
The dragon has not been spotted in over two ed wishes to overcome this protection.
hundred years, and is thought to be dead. Its
lair was never found. It is certain to have had a If the PCs met the sphinx, she was able to
vast horde of treasure. There is even a rumor give them the name of the mountain in which
that the fabled Sword ofAzor’alqmight be the dragon lairs, Mount Sessa, located in the
located in the dragon’s hoard. middle of the Crystalmists. Once in the area, a
commune with nature or a find the path could
* The PCs have obtained an old book detailing reveal the entrance to the lair. If the PCs do
not have magical aid, or do not choose to use
a fantastic sword, said to have been created for it, they may just search the mountain.
the famous elf warrior Lerel Lethariel. He is
supposed to have defeated tanar’ri and drag- The chance of finding the entrance is 5% per
ons, beholders and undead. The book says day of searching, cumulative. If a mountain
that the sword was lost to civilization when dwarf is in the party, add 2% per day of
Lerel fell to a n old red wyrm, in the Crystal- searching to the chance for finding the correct
mist mountains. location. The PCs find ld2 caves and tunnels
each day, and some of these may be inhabited
The PCs may have obtained the general lo- by monsters or pose some danger to the PCs.
cation of the dragon’s lair from the sphinx en-
counter (see page 4). The sphinx will also have Encounters on the Mountain
told them of the existence of the Sword of
Azor’alq,and something of its history. They do Details are left to the DM, but no really dan-
not have exact directions to the lair. gerous monsters (to 18th level characters, that
is) should be encountered: the dragon would
The Lair not put up with a serious threat this close to
its hoard. A cave bear, angry at being dis-
The dragon lairs in a cave deep in a moun- turbed, or perhaps an unsafe cave which col-
tain. The dragon, Sulphacitezus (Sulf-ah-seh- lapses on the PCs is the only kind of threat
TEE-zus),has lived there for hundreds of that they will meet.
years. Its lair is surrounded by traps, guard-
ians, and is not very accessible. In its younger The PCs may encounter a group of fire gi-
days the dragon traveled much, acquiring ants, loyal to the dragon, out on patrol. The
treasure from adventurers, villages, and other chance of an encounter is only 2% a day, cu-
dragons. For the last few hundred years the mulative, but it increases to 50% a day if the
dragon has been content to sleep, venturing PCs make their presence obvious, say with
out only occasionally for food. Also, it has loud flashy magic.
grown paranoid, and fears to leave its treasure
for long. However, the dragon would relish the If they spot the party on the mountain, one
chance to add to its hoard, courtesy of the giant will try to return to the lair to warn the
player characters. dragon, while the rest throw rocks for as long
as they can. On the mountain, each giant can

89

find 2d6 suitable boulders to throw. After that, may have encountered outside.
they close to melee. The giants fight to the If they wiped out the patrol on an earlier day,
death, as long as one has gotten away to warn
the dragon. Clever PCs may be able to follow the patrol has been replaced with four fresh
the escaping giant and learn the location of the guards. In this event, or if the PCs made a lot
lair in that manner.
of noise getting into the lair, all four of the gi-
Fire Giants (4):Int Ave; AL CE; AC - 1;MV
12; HD 15;hp 101,90,80,68;#AT 1;THACO ants are alert. If the PCs have entered quietly,
only one guard will be alert and watching.
5; Dmg 2d10 + 10;SA hurling rocks to 200
This cave contains the sleeping mats of four
yards for 2d 10;SD immune to non-magical giants, a large gong near the entrance to the
fire and red dragon breath, magical fire inflicts cave, and the remains of a partially-eaten
mountain goat.
- 1hit point per die of damage; SZ H; ML 15;
If the PCs start down the right branch, roll
XP 8,000. for surprise. If the giants have been alerted,
they are only surprised on a 1on 1D10.
The Cave
Fire Giants (4):Int Ave; AL CE; AC - 1;MV
The lair is hidden behind a huge boulder,
one weighing four tons. This is the only en- 12; HD 15;hp 101,90,80,68;#AT 1;THACO
trance. It is large enough for the giants to use, 5;Dmg 2d10 + 10;S A hurling rocks for 2d10;
and they always replace the boulder when SD immune to non-magical fire and red drag-
they leave the lair. The entrance is not large
enough for the dragon to use it; Sulphacitezus on breath, magical fire inflicts - 1hit point per
must polymorph to leave the lair.
die of damage; SZ H; ML 15;XP 8,000.
A three-foot gap at the base of the boulder
provides entrance only to halfling-sized char- The fire giants are cornered, and have no
acters, taller PCs must either chip away choice but to fight to the death. They do not
enough of the boulder to allow entry, or make even consider surrender; they are much more
themselves smaller magically. Chipping away afraid of the dragon than they are of the PCs. If
at the boulder should not be too difficult, but it one gets the chance (i.e., if the giants are not
does take time, and the noise will certainly surprised), he rings the gong. The gong echoes
alert the dragon and his guards. through the tunnels, and l d 6 rounds after the
gong is rung, another patrol of four giants with
The Entrance lhnnel identical statistics comes to investigate. These
are the giants from ’knnel7. None of the gi-
Once inside, the PCs find themselves in a ants are carrying any treasure.
large tunnel, 20’ high and 25’ wide. The air
reeks of sulphur. The temperature will slowly lhnnel2.
change from a comfortable 75 degrees at the The left passage is again the one that con-
entrance to a stifling 110 degrees in the heart
of the lair. Emphasize the increasing heat as tinues on, the right passage goes at last to a
the PCs continue into the mountain. The PCs small cave.
will encounter a number of places where the
tunnel splits, with one of the tunnels being a The right tunnel, after lo‘,begins to narrow.
false trail. The false tunnels are listed in order.
After 50’.the tunnel has narrowed to only five
lhnnel 1. feet wide and eight feet high, opening into a
The left branch continues on, the right small cave. The cave is empty, and its ceiling
is extremely unstable. Merely talking has a
branch leads to a fire giant outpost. 10%chance per round of causing a cave-in,.
This is the least desirable post in the moun- while loud noises have a 60%chance to cause
such an accident.
tain, since the temperature is only 80 degrees.
The giants here are surly. They won’t negoti- Several tons of rock would fall on the PCs.
ate with the PCs under any circumstances. Anyone in the cave takes 3d12 points of dam-
This is the living quarters of patrol the PCs age, with a saving throw vs. breath weapon
allowed. Success indicates only half damage is
taken.

91

tunnel3. tunnel5.
The right passage continues on this time, The left passage continues on, and the right

and the left passage leads to a trap. one curves back around and joins the fourth
The left passage continues for 40’ and then false tunnel.

turns sharply left. It dead-ends right around The balsa wood trap is repeated here, al-
the corner. The area of the tunnel floor 10’ though if the PCs have already released the
before the curve is trapped. There is a pit trap acid, shattering the glass only lets two or three
in the floor, covered by an illusionary wall inches of acid run out.
spell. Anyone who steps on it simply falls
through, in effect disappearing from sight. The tunnel6.
pit is 30’deep, and anyone who falls takes 6d6 The left passage is man-sized, the right pas-
points of falling damage. The bottom of the pit
is covered with broken glass, and anyone land- sage is still 20‘ by 25’.
ing on it takes a n additional 3d6 of cutting The PCs find a small cave, only 15’across.
damage. Any magical cloth items, like cloaks
or robes, must make a saving throw vs. crush- In the cave is the skeleton of a half-elf. The
ing blow or be rendered non-magical, as they half-elf was a thief who had located the trea-
would be cut up pretty badly. sure. The dragon caught him, but he managed
to flee here. The dragon considered flaming
tunnel4. him, but decided he wanted to eat this thief
The left passage continues on, and the right whole. He put some giants on guard, and wait-
ed for the thief to come out.
passage turns to join the fifth false tunnel.
The (right)tunnel first narrows to 15’wide, The thief tried a couple of times, but the
giants were always waiting. Finally, wounded
and then comes to a dead end, although the too seriously to escape, he died in this cave. If
stone is obviously painted balsa wood. It looks his spirit is contacted, he can tell the PCs the
as though the wood was painted long ago, and correct tunnel at the next branch, and to
the paint is starting to peel. The PCs can easily watch out for giants. A rusty short sword and
smash through the balsa wood. dagger, along with some rotted leather armor,
are still on his body. If the PCs search under
One inch behind the balsa wood is a glass the body they can find a small emerald worth
vat. The glass structure is 15’wide by 6’high, 200 gp.
and completely blocks the tunnel. The vat is
filled with deadly acid. If a PC punches tunnel7.
through the balsa wood, there is an 80% The right passage is man-sized, only four
chance that he shatters the glass behind the
wall as well, releasing a flood of acid. The acid feet across. The left passage leads to the other
eats through the balsa wood in only a few sec- fire giant guard post in the lair.
onds, and then washes over the characters.
two of the 8 fire giants here will be on watch
Anyone within 30’of the acid is hit by the
flood. Affected characters take 3d4 points of at any time. If the PCs made a lot of noise at
damage per round. Any magical items that are the first tunnel, four of them may have gone to
exposed to the acid must make saving throws check out the disturbance. The other four
vs. acid or dissolve. The acid continues to do have remained here, with weapons and boul-
damage each round, until it is washed off. ders ready. In the event of a disturbance, the
dragon will have been alerted. If the dragon
The flood leaves a good six inches of acid in has not been alerted, a prolonged melee here
the tunnel, up to 30’back. At that point the will certainly do it now. The giants are cor-
tunnel rises a foot or two, and the acid does nered, and fight to the death.
not wash any further. If the PCs do not shatter
the glass, there is a 9’opening in the tunnel, Fire Giants (4):Int Ave; AL CE; AC - 1;MV
above the glass vat. The glass is not strong
enough to support someone walking across it. 12;HD 15; hp 111 , 9 5 , 8 4 , 7 8 ;#AT 1;THACO
Anyone who tries will be dumped into the ac- 5; Dmg 2d10+ 10;S A hurling rocks for 2d10;
id, taking damage as noted. S D immune to non-magical fire and red drag-
on breath, magical fire inflicts - 1hit point per
die of damage; SZ H; ML 15;XP 8,000.

tunnel 8 (tothe lair). Assuming that they have not surprised the
The last tunnel is small, the dragon does not
dragon, all they see is the treasure. They must
want the fire giants in his treasure. He always
polymorphs when he wants to leave the lair. make their way across the 10’wide lava

This tunnel has three traps. After 40’ there stream to reach it.
is a tripwire; triggering it causes three poi- If the dragon has had some warning, he took
soned spears to shoot out of the wall. The
spears hit with a THACO of 5, and do ld6 time to prepare. He used his clairvoyance to
points of damage. The poison is virulent spider
poison, a saving throw vs. poison is required watch the party against the fire giants, and
or death follows within a round. A successful realizes that this is a tough bunch of adventur-
save means the affected character’s Strength ers. He will have cast an improved invisibility
is reduced by 2 for 2d4 hours. and levitated to the ceiling. There he waits for

At loo’,a glyph of warding is placed in the the PCs. When they are occupied by crossing
the lava stream, he strikes!
floor. The glyph is electrical, and anyone step-
ping on it (15%chance for each character, in -Sulphacitezus: Int Exceptional; AL CE;
order), takes 10d4 points of damage (no save).
All characters immediately in front and be- Age 11;AC 10;MV 9, fly 30 (C),jump 3; HD
hind of the character who triggered the glyph
are allowed to save vs. spell for only half dam- 20; hp 128; #AT 3 + special; THACO -4; Dmg
age.
ld10+ 10/ld10+10/3-30+10;S A breathe fire
After 130’,only 10‘from the entrance to the
lair itself, a symbo1has been inscribed on the in a 90’by 30’cone for 22d 10+ 11;spells +
floor. I t is a permanent symbol ofpain,and
special; SD immune to fire; MR 60%;SZ G; ML
‘ can potentially affect all characters passing
18;XP 19,000. Innate spell abilities include:
over it. Affected characters have a -4 penalty affectnormal fires (3/day),pyrotechnics (3/
to attack rolls, damage, and saving throws, day),heat metal (l/day),suggestion (Uday),
hypnotism (l/day),detect gems, kind and
and a -2 to Dexterity. These effects last for number in a lOO’radius (3/day),radiate fear
(with a -3 penalty to the saving throw in a 45-
2d10 turns. yard radius).

The Dragon’s Lair Sulphacitezus has the following spells mem-
orized, which he casts at 19th level:
If all of this hasn’t been enough to warn the
dragon, there is a magic mouth cast upon the Mage spells:
roof of the entrance to the lair. It screams
“Death to the intruders!” six times before burning hands magic missile,
stopping. The PCs see a huge cavern, 300’by
150‘,with a ceiling arching up out of sight magic mouth levitate,
(100‘above). The room is lit by a red glow,
which comes from the open stream of lava lightning bo1t vampiric touch,
that cuts through the granite floor. The stream
of lava runs in front of the entrance, and cuts improved invisibility polymorph self;
off the rest of the room.
Priest spells: create water.
The room is stifling, and the temperature is command
over 110degrees. Across the stream the char-
acters can see a large mound of silver, gold, The dragon is over three hundred feet long.
gems, and jewels.
It can attack with its tail, doing 2d10 + 10
What they do not see is the dragon, unless
the party has managed to avoid setting off any points of damage, and affecting up to 11crea-
of the traps, and has not alerted the giants. If
they manage to surprise the dragon, they find tures. Creatures affected must make saving
it laying across the treasure, running its claws throws vs. petrification or be stunned for 2-5
through some gems.
(d4+ 1)rounds. The dragon can also employ

its wings in combat. These can be used on

opponents to the side, and do ldlO + 10points

of damage. Creatures struck must roll their

Dexterity or less on a d20 or be knocked

prone. In this relatively small cave, the dragon

can not maneuver well enough to try a snatch.
Although the dragon would like to strip the

bodies of the adventurers, it didn’t get to be

1100years old by being stupid. It waits until

94

the adventurers are crossing the lava stream, a scroll of protection from petrification;
whether by flight or jumping. It then uses a a scroll with polymorph seX haste, and
create water to dump 11 gallons of water on dig
the lava near the PCs. This creates a good a scroll with cure critical wounds, stone
cloud of steam, obscuring vision in a 15’radi- tell, and plant door;
us in front of the entrance. a scroll with power word blind and reverse
gravity;
While the characters are dealing with this, he potions of healing, climbing, treasure find-
lowers himself 30’and lets go with a lightning ing, and invulnerability;
bolt, aiming it at anyone in robes near the a ring of water walking
back. If possible, the bolt is aimed atjuncture a wand ofparalyzation (17 charges);
of wall and floor. He wants it to bounce back a shield + 2
through his target again. Hitting a target more a battleaxe +3;
than once with the same bolt does not cause 0 a set of chain mail + 3 (elf-sized);
increased damage, but it does require multiple the Sword ofAzor’alq.
saving throws (thetarget must make all of
them to take half damage). The dragon then The Sword of Azor’alq
lowers another 30‘,and breaths fire at the larg-
est group of armor-clad figures he can find. The Sword ofAzor’alqis a long sword
+4..It has an intelligence of 17 and an ego
His actions after that are determined by 3f 21. It is aligned, neutral good, and has the
character responses. If they are still dealing special purpose of slaying evil otherplanar
with the lava stream, he might land and try to beings. Any such being struck by it must
sweep them into the lava with his tail. If some- make a saving throw vs. spell or be disinte-
one dispels his levitation, he closes for two grated.
rounds until he can breathe fire again. Other-
wise, he tries to stay up out of the reach of The sword speaks elvish, as well as com-
those nasty magical swords and things. municating telepathically with its possessor.
[tcan detect evil in a 20’ radius, and detect
Remember that the dragon is invisible, and invisible objects in a 10’radius. Once per
will stay that way for 22 rounds. During this day it allows the possessor to fljat a rate of
120’/round,for up to one hour.
time his effective armor class is - 14, and as
The sword is very proud, and does not
long as he keeps floating up and down, he is wish to serve anyone who is not an impor-
not easily targeted, either by spells or missile tant baron or king. It also expects its owner
weapons. to provide it with a new scabbard, with
many gems fixed to it. In general, the sword
The Treasure thinks it is in charge of any owner, and with
its intelligence and ego it may well be. If the
Sulphacitezus has been gathering treasure sword is in control, it will compel its owner
for hundreds of years. His treasure is in a long to seek out and destroy powerful other-
pile, over 100’.It would take many wagons to planar beings of evil alignment. The sword
cart out all of the stuff; in fact, there are wag- especially hates fiends of all sorts, and the
onloads of stuff in the treasure. If the PCs de- owner may soon find himself on a quest in
cide to camp here and begin an inventory, the another plane, if the sword has its way.
following items are found: five wagonloads of
silk (mostly rotten, and the wagons are falling The sword retains all of its powers on any
apart) current value 2,000 gp; 54,333 cp; plane, although on the lower planes, the
33,120 sp; 7,300 ep; 17,170gp; 1,450pp; 325 detect evil power is neutralized by the over-
assorted gems (value and type can be rolled whelming evil of the plane. Any randomly
randomly, or each is worth an average of 40 encountered fiend will have a 10%chance
gp, or 13,000gp in all), 27 paintings, statues, of having seen or heard of the Sword of
carvings, and other art objects worth 1,000- Azor’alq,and will seek to destroy the pos-
5,000gp each to collectors. sessor and take the sword.

Detecting for magic can reveal the following
items:

he best AD&D@ game use. The 3 x 5
game tool since char- cards also easily fit in
acter record sheets! your pocket. Look for
Wizards assemble a "spell
book" that contains all of the accessory at book,
spells his character needs to hobby, and comic
know. Over 400 cards in all, stores everywhere!
each set contains all of the
pertinent information for fast

ADVANCED DUNGEONS 8 DRAGONS and ADBD are registered trademarks owned by TSR, Inc.
The TSR logo is a trademark owned by TSR. Inc. 01991 TSR, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

ADVENTURE BECKONS!

From lost settlements on the wild shores o
Amedio
Mountains, this new anthology of AD&D@
adventures has something for every adventu -

Search for the fabled jewel, the Eye of Nur da
seek a powerful magical item like the Helm of
Selnor. You must be on your guard, however, fot
each of these adventures is designed to test the
mettle of the experienced adventurer.
So, whether you wish to pay a visit to the archmage Bigby’s humble abode,
search the tombs in the Cairn Hills, or pass the time of day riddling with a
sphinx, these forays into the WORLD OF GREYHAWK@setting will be a challe
for parties of venturesome players, who either excel at role-playing, combat,
puzzle-solving, or who wish to.
Who knows, you might even T--‘-

Short Sessions
Each adventure perfect for an evening’s adventuring

nir

Challenging Adventures
The bold may inquire within.

ADVANCED DUNGEONS 81DRAGONS, AD&D and

WORLD OF GREYHAWK are registered trademarks own

The TSR logo is a trademark owned by TSR, Inc. Printe
Copyright O1992 TSR, Inc. All Rights Reserved.